VARIABLE INTEREST ENTITIES BORROWINGS (Schedule of Debt) (Details) RSO (RSO [Member], USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	6 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Outstanding Borrowings	$ 1,579,834	$ 1,319,810
Unamortized debt issuance costs	13,012	16,216
Principal outstanding	1,592,846	1,336,026
Weighted-average borrowing rate	1.96%	1.87%
Weighted Average Remaining Maturity	9 years 9 months	13 years 1 month
Value of Collateral	1,951,857	1,508,603
RREF CDO 2006-1 Senior Notes [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Outstanding Borrowings	106,029	94,004
Unamortized debt issuance costs	51	205
Principal outstanding	106,080	94,209
Weighted-average borrowing rate	1.92%	1.87%
Weighted Average Remaining Maturity	32 years 1 month	32 years 7 months
Value of Collateral	174,237	169,115
RREF CDO 2007-1 Senior Notes [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Outstanding Borrowings	126,004	177,837
Unamortized debt issuance costs	355	719
Principal outstanding	126,359	178,556
Weighted-average borrowing rate	0.99%	0.84%
Weighted Average Remaining Maturity	32 years 3 months	32 years 9 months
Value of Collateral	361,432	318,933
CRE Notes 2013 [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Outstanding Borrowings	256,807	256,571
Unamortized debt issuance costs	3,683	4,269
Principal outstanding	260,490	260,840
Weighted-average borrowing rate	2.02%	2.03%
Weighted Average Remaining Maturity	14 years 6 months	15 years 0 months
Value of Collateral	281,846	305,586
Apidos CDO I Senior Notes [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Outstanding Borrowings	56,922	87,131
Unamortized debt issuance costs	0	0
Principal outstanding	56,922	87,131
Weighted-average borrowing rate	2.24%	1.68%
Weighted Average Remaining Maturity	3 years 1 month	3 years 7 months
Value of Collateral	73,276	103,736
Apidos CDO III Senior Notes [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Outstanding Borrowings	97,458	133,209
Unamortized debt issuance costs	0	117
Principal outstanding	97,458	133,326
Weighted-average borrowing rate	1.01%	0.88%
Weighted Average Remaining Maturity	6 years 2 months	6 years 8 months
Value of Collateral	109,325	145,930
Apidos Cinco CDO Senior Notes [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Outstanding Borrowings	319,639	321,147
Unamortized debt issuance costs	553	853
Principal outstanding	320,192	322,000
Weighted-average borrowing rate	0.73%	0.74%
Weighted Average Remaining Maturity	5 years 11 months	6 years 5 months
Value of Collateral	341,777	342,796
Whitney CLO I Securitized Borrowings [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Outstanding Borrowings	0	440
Unamortized debt issuance costs	0	0
Principal outstanding	0	440
Weighted-average borrowing rate	0.00%	0.00%
Value of Collateral	79	885
Moselle CLO SA Senior Notes [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Outstanding Borrowings	140,220
Unamortized debt issuance costs	0
Principal outstanding	140,220
Weighted-average borrowing rate	1.04%
Weighted Average Remaining Maturity	5 years 6 months
Value of Collateral	175,641
Moselle CLO SA Securitized Borrowings [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Outstanding Borrowings	5,208
Unamortized debt issuance costs	0
Principal outstanding	5,208
Weighted-average borrowing rate	1.04%
Value of Collateral	0
Unsecured Junior Subordinated Debentures [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Outstanding Borrowings	51,104	51,005
Unamortized debt issuance costs	444	543
Principal outstanding	51,548	51,548
Weighted-average borrowing rate	4.18%	4.19%
Weighted Average Remaining Maturity	22 years 3 months	22 years 10 months
Value of Collateral	0	0
Convertible Senior Notes [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Outstanding Borrowings	107,550	106,535
Unamortized debt issuance costs	7,450	8,465
Principal outstanding	115,000	115,000
Weighted-average borrowing rate	6.00%	6.00%
Weighted Average Remaining Maturity	4 years 5 months	4 years 11 months
Value of Collateral	0	0
Repurchase Agreements Debt [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Outstanding Borrowings	217,679	29,703
Unamortized debt issuance costs	448	1,033
Principal outstanding	218,127	30,736
Weighted-average borrowing rate	2.58%	2.67%
Weighted Average Remaining Maturity	17 days	21 days
Value of Collateral	315,579	48,186
CMBS - Term Repurchase Facilities [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Outstanding Borrowings	30,833	47,601
Unamortized debt issuance costs	0	12
Principal outstanding	30,833	47,613
Weighted-average borrowing rate	1.37%	1.38%
Weighted Average Remaining Maturity	18 days	21 days
Value of Collateral	37,784	56,949
RMBS - Term Repurchase Facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Outstanding Borrowings	22,997
Unamortized debt issuance costs	28
Principal outstanding	23,025
Weighted-average borrowing rate	1.15%
Weighted Average Remaining Maturity	1 day
Value of Collateral	27,669
Residential Mortgage [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Outstanding Borrowings	23,679	14,627
Unamortized debt issuance costs	0	0
Principal outstanding	23,679	14,627
Weighted-average borrowing rate	3.99%	4.24%
Weighted Average Remaining Maturity	130 days	56 days
Value of Collateral	32,399	16,487
CMBS - Short-Term Repurchase Agreements [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Outstanding Borrowings	17,705
Unamortized debt issuance costs	0
Principal outstanding	17,705
Weighted-average borrowing rate	1.40%
Weighted Average Remaining Maturity	2 days
Value of Collateral	$ 20,813