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Item 3 — Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. · 10-Q · Q2 FY2026 · Period ended Jun 30, 2026
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Interest Rate Risk
Loan Portfolio Net Interest Income
Generally, our business model is such that rising interest rates will increase our net income, while declining interest rates
will decrease net income. As of June 30, 2026, 97% of our loans by principal balance earned a floating rate of interest,
primarily indexed to SOFR, and were financed with liabilities that pay interest at floating rates, which resulted in an
amount of net equity that is positively correlated to changing interest rates, subject to the impact of interest rate floors on
certain of our floating rate loans.
The following table projects the impact on our net interest income, presented net of implied changes in incentive fees, for
the twelve-month period following June 30, 2026, of an increase in the various floating-rate indices referenced by our
portfolio, assuming no change in credit spreads, portfolio composition, or asset performance, relative to the average indices
during the three months ended June 30, 2026 ($ in thousands):
Assets (Liabilities) Sensitive to Changes in Interest Rates(1) Interest Rate Sensitivity as of June 30, 2026(2)(3)
Increase in Rates Decrease in Rates
50 Basis Points 100 Basis Points 50 Basis Points 100 Basis Points
Floating rate assets(4)(5)(6) $16,161,435 $64,197 $128,517 $(62,959) $(112,812)
Floating rate liabilities(5)(6)(7) (15,258,615) (61,034) (122,069) 61,034 122,069
Net exposure $902,820 $3,163 $6,448 $(1,925) $9,257
(1)Reflects the USD equivalent value of floating rate assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies.
(2)Increases (decreases) in interest income and expense are presented net of theoretical impact of incentive fees. Refer
to Note 15 to our consolidated financial statements for additional details of our incentive fee calculation.
(3)Excludes income from loans accounted for under the cost-recovery method.
(4)Excludes $699.7 million of principal balance on floating rate impaired loans.
(5)Our loan agreements generally require our borrowers to purchase interest rate caps, which mitigates our borrowers’
exposure to an increase in interest rates.
(6)Excludes amounts related to our investments in unconsolidated entities.
(7)Includes amounts outstanding under our secured debt, securitizations, asset-specific debt, Term Loans, Senior
Secured Notes due 2029, and Senior Secured Notes due 2031. We entered into interest rate swaps with an aggregate
notional amount of $900.0 million that effectively converts our fixed rate exposure to floating rate exposure for the
Senior Secured Notes due 2029 and Senior Secured Notes due 2031. Excludes amounts related to the indebtedness
of our unconsolidated entities.
Loan Portfolio Value
As of June 30, 2026, 97% of our loans by principal balance earned a floating rate of interest, so the value of such
investments is generally not impacted by changes in market interest rates. Additionally, we generally hold all of our loans
to maturity and so do not expect to realize gains or losses resulting from any mark to market valuation adjustments on our
loan portfolio.
Risk of Non-Performance
In addition to the risks related to fluctuations in cash flows and asset values associated with movements in interest rates,
there is also the risk of non-performance on floating rate assets. In the case of a significant increase in interest rates, the
cash flows of the collateral real estate assets may not be sufficient to pay debt service due under our loans, which may
contribute to non-performance or, in severe cases, default. This risk is partially mitigated by our consideration of rising rate
stress-testing during our underwriting process, which generally includes a requirement for our borrower to purchase an
interest rate cap contract with an unaffiliated third party, provide an interest reserve deposit, and/or provide interest
guarantees or other structural protections.
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Credit Risks
Our loans are subject to credit risk, including the risk of default. The performance and value of our loans depend upon the
borrowers’ ability to operate the properties that serve as our collateral so that they produce cash flows adequate to pay
interest and principal due to us. To monitor this risk, our asset management team reviews our loan portfolios and, in certain
instances, is in regular contact with our borrowers, monitoring performance of the collateral and enforcing our rights as
necessary.
In addition, we are exposed to the risks generally associated with the commercial real estate market, including changes in
occupancy rates, capitalization rates, absorption rates, and other macroeconomic factors beyond our control. We seek to
manage these risks through our underwriting and asset management processes.
We maintain a robust asset management relationship with our borrowers and utilize these relationships to maximize the
performance of our portfolio, including during periods of volatility. We believe that we benefit from these relationships and
from our long-standing core business model of originating senior loans collateralized by large assets in major markets with
experienced, well-capitalized institutional sponsors. While we believe the principal amounts of our loans are generally
adequately protected by underlying collateral value, there is a risk that we will not realize the entire principal value of
certain loans. As of June 30, 2026, we had an aggregate $219.5 million asset-specific CECL reserve related to nine of our
loans receivable, with an aggregate amortized cost basis of $695.2 million, net of cost-recovery proceeds. This CECL
reserve was recorded based on our estimation of the fair value of each of the loan’s underlying collateral as of June 30,
2026.
Our portfolio monitoring and asset management operations benefit from the deep knowledge, experience, and information
advantages derived from our position as part of Blackstone’s real estate platform. Blackstone has built the world's
preeminent global real estate business, with a proven track record of successfully navigating market cycles and emerging
stronger through periods of volatility. The market-leading real estate expertise derived from the strength of the Blackstone
platform deeply informs our credit and underwriting process, and we believe gives us the tools to expertly asset manage
our portfolio and work with our borrowers throughout periods of economic stress and uncertainty.
Capital Market Risks
We are exposed to risks related to the equity capital markets, and our related ability to raise capital through the issuance of
our class A common stock or other equity instruments. We are also exposed to risks related to the debt capital markets, and
our related ability to finance our business through borrowings under credit facilities or other debt instruments. As a REIT,
we are required to distribute a significant portion of our taxable income annually, which constrains our ability to
accumulate operating cash flow and therefore requires us to utilize debt or equity capital to finance our business. We seek
to mitigate these risks by monitoring the debt and equity capital markets to inform our decisions on the amount, timing, and
terms of capital we raise.
Our master repurchase agreements and secured credit facilities are generally structured without capital markets-based
mark-to-market provisions, which means the margin call provisions do not permit valuation adjustments based on capital
markets events. The majority of our master repurchase agreements and secured credit facilities are non-mark-to-market,
which means the margin call provisions only permit valuation adjustments if the loan or collateral pledged or sold by us
becomes defaulted, and the margin call provisions for the remainder are limited to collateral-specific credit marks generally
determined on a commercially reasonable basis. There can be no assurance we will not experience margin calls under any
asset-level financing that contains margin call provisions.
Counterparty Risk
The nature of our business requires us to hold our cash and cash equivalents and obtain financing from various financial
institutions. This exposes us to the risk that these financial institutions may not fulfill their obligations to us under these
various contractual arrangements. We mitigate this exposure by depositing our cash and cash equivalents and entering into
financing agreements with high credit-quality institutions.
The nature of our loans also exposes us to the risk that our counterparties do not make required interest and principal
payments on scheduled due dates. We seek to manage this risk through a comprehensive credit analysis prior to making a
loan and active monitoring of the asset portfolios that serve as our collateral, as further discussed above.
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Currency Risk
Our loans that are denominated in a foreign currency are also subject to risks related to fluctuations in currency rates. We
generally mitigate this exposure by matching the currency of our assets to the currency of the financing for our assets. As a
result, we substantially reduce our exposure to changes in portfolio value related to changes in foreign currency rates. In
addition, substantially all of our net asset exposure to foreign currencies has been hedged with foreign currency forward
contracts as of June 30, 2026.
The following tables outline our assets and liabilities that are denominated in a foreign currency (amounts in thousands):
June 30, 2026
GBP EUR All Other(1)
Foreign currency assets £2,135,200 €2,324,702 $2,155,172
Foreign currency liabilities (1,444,826) (1,622,249) (1,695,115)
Foreign currency contracts – notional (684,764) (695,360) (451,958)
Net exposure to exchange rate fluctuations £5,610 €7,093 $8,099
Net exposure to exchange rate fluctuations in USD(2) $7,440 $8,101 $8,099
(1)Includes Swedish Krona, Australian Dollar, and Canadian Dollar currencies.
(2)Represents the U.S. Dollar equivalent as of June 30, 2026.