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Retirement Benefit Plans | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2025
Retirement Benefits [Abstract] |
Retirement Benefit Plans | Note 18. Retirement Benefit Plans The Company sponsors a qualified defined benefit pension plan, the Hancock Whitney Corporation Pension Plan and Trust Agreement (“Pension Plan”), covering certain eligible associates. Eligibility is based on minimum age and service-related requirements. In 2017, the Pension Plan was amended to exclude any individual hired or rehired by the Company after June 30, 2017 from eligibility to participate. The Pension Plan amendment further provided that the accrued benefits of each participant in the Pension Plan whose combined age plus years of service as of January 1, 2018 totaled less than 55 were to be frozen as of January 1, 2018, and not thereafter increase. The Company makes contributions to this plan in amounts sufficient to meet funding requirements set forth in federal employee benefit and tax laws, plus such additional amounts as the Company may determine to be appropriate. The Company was no t required to make a contribution to the Pension Plan during 2025 or 2024. The Company does not anticipate being required to make a contribution, nor does it anticipate making a discretionary contribution to the Pension Plan in 2026. The Company also offers a defined contribution retirement benefit plan, the Hancock Whitney Corporation 401(k) Savings Plan and Trust Agreement (“401(k) Plan”), that covers substantially all associates who have been employed 60 days and meet a minimum age requirement and employment classification criteria. The Company matches 100% of the first 1% of compensation saved by a participant, and 50% of the next 5% of compensation saved. Newly eligible associates are automatically enrolled at an initial 3% savings rate unless the associate actively opts out of participation in the plan. The 401(k) Plan was also amended during the second quarter of 2017 for participants whose benefits were frozen under the Pension Plan to add an enhanced Company contribution beginning January 1, 2018, in the amount of 2%, 4% or 6% of such participant’s eligible compensation, based on the participant’s age and years of service with the Company. The 401(k) Plan’s amendment further provided that the Company will contribute to the benefit of those associates of the Company hired or rehired after June 30, 2017, and those associates of the Company never enrolled in the Pension Plan an additional basic contribution in an amount equal to 2% of the associate’s eligible compensation beginning January 1, 2018. Participants vest in the new basic and enhanced Company contributions upon completion of three years of service. The Company’s 401(k) plan matching expense totaled $18.8 million, $17.8 million and $17.9 million for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023, respectively. Certain associates who were designated executive officers of Whitney Holding Corporation and/or Whitney National Bank before the acquisition by the Company are also covered by an unfunded nonqualified defined benefit pension plan. The benefits under this nonqualified plan were designed to supplement amounts to be paid under the defined benefit plan previously maintained for employees of Whitney Holding Corporation and/or Whitney National Bank (the “Whitney Pension Plan”), and are calculated using the Whitney Pension Plan’s formula, but without applying the restrictions imposed on qualified plans by certain provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. Accrued benefits under this plan were frozen as of December 31, 2012 in connection with the merger of the Whitney Pension Plan into the Company’s qualified defined benefit pension plan, and no future benefits will be accrued under this plan. The Company also sponsors defined benefit postretirement plans for certain associates. The Hancock postretirement plans are available only to associates hired by the Company prior to January 1, 2000. The Hancock plans provide health care and life insurance benefits to retiring associates who participate in medical and/or group life insurance benefit plans for active associates and have reached 55 years of age with ten years of service, at the time of retirement. The postretirement health care plan is contributory, with retiree contributions adjusted annually and subject to certain employer contribution maximums. The Whitney postretirement plans are available only to former employees of Whitney Holding Corporation and/or Whitney National Bank who meet the eligibility requirements, and offer health care and life insurance benefits for eligible retirees and their eligible dependents. Participant contributions are required under the health plan. These plans restrict eligibility for postretirement health benefits to retirees already receiving benefits as of the date of the plan amendments in 2007 and to those active participants who were eligible to receive benefits as of December 31, 2007 (i.e., were age 55 with ten years of credited service). Life insurance benefits are currently only available to associates who retired before December 31, 2007. The Company assumed certain trends in health care costs in the determination of the benefit obligations. The plans assumed a 7.50% increase in health costs, increasing to 8.00% in 2026, declining to 5.75% uniformly over a three year period, and then following the Getzen model thereafter. At December 31, 2025, the mortality assumption was based on Revised RP-2014 Employee and Healthy Annuitants Bottom Quartile Fully Generational Mortality Table for Males and Females - Projected with Improvement Scale MP-2021. The following tables detail the changes in the benefit obligations and plan assets of the defined benefit plans for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, as well as the funded status of the plans at each year end and the amounts recognized in the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets. The Company uses a December 31 measurement date for all defined benefit pension plans and other postretirement benefit plans.
| Pension Benefits |  |  | Other Post-Retirement Benefits |
($ in thousands) | 2025 |  | 2024 |  |  | 2025 |  | 2024 |
Change in benefit obligation |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Benefit obligation at beginning of year | $ | 486,231 |  |  | $ | 517,648 |  |  | $ | 10,447 |  |  | $ | 13,404 |
Service cost |  | 6,061 |  |  |  | 7,707 |  |  |  | 24 |  |  |  | 31 |
Interest cost |  | 25,086 |  |  |  | 24,047 |  |  |  | 520 |  |  |  | 578 |
Plan participants' contributions |  | — |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | 549 |  |  |  | 608 |
Plan amendments |  | — |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | 369 |  |  |  | — |
Net actuarial gain (loss) |  | 16,517 |  |  |  | (35,453 | ) |  |  | 170 |  |  |  | (2,371 | )
Benefits paid |  | (27,988 | ) |  |  | (27,718 | ) |  |  | (1,469 | ) |  |  | (1,803 | )
Benefit obligation, end of year |  | 505,907 |  |  |  | 486,231 |  |  |  | 10,610 |  |  |  | 10,447 |
Change in plan assets |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year |  | 734,820 |  |  |  | 723,064 |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |
Actual return on plan assets |  | 81,135 |  |  |  | 40,388 |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |
Employer contributions |  | 1,320 |  |  |  | 1,264 |  |  |  | 920 |  |  |  | 1,196 |
Plan participants' contributions |  | — |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | 549 |  |  |  | 608 |
Benefit payments |  | (27,988 | ) |  |  | (27,718 | ) |  |  | (1,469 | ) |  |  | (1,804 | )
Expenses |  | (2,286 | ) |  |  | (2,178 | ) |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |
Fair value of plan assets, end of year |  | 787,001 |  |  |  | 734,820 |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |
Funded status at end of year - net asset (liability) | $ | 281,094 |  |  | $ | 248,589 |  |  | $ | (10,610 | ) |  | $ | (10,447 | )
Amounts recognized in accumulated other comprehensive loss |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Unrecognized loss (gain) at beginning of year | $ | 109,324 |  |  | $ | 141,049 |  |  | $ | (9,474 | ) |  | $ | (7,902 | )
Net actuarial loss (gain) |  | (21,678 | ) |  |  | (31,725 | ) |  |  | 1,166 |  |  |  | (1,572 | )
Unrecognized loss (gain) at end of year | $ | 87,646 |  |  | $ | 109,324 |  |  | $ | (8,308 | ) |  | $ | (9,474 | )
Projected benefit obligation | $ | 505,907 |  |  | $ | 486,231 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Accumulated benefit obligation |  | 488,780 |  |  |  | 467,634 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Fair value of plan assets |  | 787,001 |  |  |  | 734,820 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
The net funded status of $281.1 million for pension benefits plans includes an excess of plan assets over the benefit obligation of $292.4 million on the defined benefit pension plan, partially offset by an unfunded benefit obligation of $11.3 million for the nonqualified retirement plan. Net actuarial gain is a significant component of the change in the projected benefit obligation of the Pension Plan for the year ended December 31, 2025. The actuarial gain was primarily driven by a change in the discount rate used in computing the projected benefit obligation at December 31, 2025. The following table shows net periodic (benefit) cost included in expense and the changes in the amounts recognized in AOCI during the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023.
|  | Pension Benefits |  |  | Other Post-Retirement Benefits |
($ in thousands) |  | 2025 |  | 2024 |  | 2023 |  |  | 2025 |  | 2024 |  | 2023 |
Net periodic (benefit) cost |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Service cost |  | $ | 6,061 |  | $ | 7,707 |  | $ | 7,916 |  |  | $ | 24 |  | $ | 31 |  | $ | 34 |
Interest cost |  |  | 25,086 |  |  | 24,047 |  |  | 23,854 |  |  |  | 520 |  |  | 578 |  |  | 622 |
Expected return on plan assets |  |  | (45,059 | ) |  | (47,626 | ) |  | (44,710 | ) |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | — |
Amortization of net (gain) loss/prior service cost |  |  | 4,404 |  |  | 5,687 |  |  | 7,643 |  |  |  | (1,123 | ) |  | (799 | ) |  | (843 | )
Net periodic benefit |  |  | (9,508 | ) |  | (10,185 | ) |  | (5,297 | ) |  |  | (579 | ) |  | (190 | ) |  | (187 | )
Other changes in plan assets and benefit obligations recognized in other comprehensive income, before taxes |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Net (loss) gain recognized during the year |  |  | (4,404 | ) |  | (5,687 | ) |  | (7,643 | ) |  |  | 1,123 |  |  | 799 |  |  | 843 |
Net actuarial loss (gain) |  |  | (17,274 | ) |  | (26,038 | ) |  | 13,449 |  |  |  | 43 |  |  | (2,371 | ) |  | 92 |
Total recognized in other comprehensive income |  |  | (21,678 | ) |  | (31,725 | ) |  | 5,806 |  |  |  | 1,166 |  |  | (1,572 | ) |  | 935 |
Total recognized in net periodic benefit cost and other comprehensive income |  | $ | (31,186 | ) | $ | (41,910 | ) | $ | 509 |  |  | $ | 587 |  | $ | (1,762 | ) | $ | 748 |
Discount rate for benefit obligations |  |  | 5.35 | % |  | 5.62 | % |  | 4.83 | % |  |  | 5.28 | % |  | 5.56 | % |  | 4.81 | %
Discount rate for net periodic benefit cost |  |  | 5.62 | % |  | 4.83 | % |  | 5.00 | % |  |  | 5.56 | % |  | 4.81 | % |  | 4.98 | %
Expected long-term return on plan assets |  |  | 6.25 | % |  | 6.50 | % |  | 6.50 | % |  | n/a |  | n/a |  | n/a |
Rate of compensation increase |  | scaled * |  | scaled * |  | scaled * |  |  | n/a |  | n/a |  | n/a |
*Graded scale, declining from 7.25% at age 20 to 2.25% at age 65 The long term rate of return on plan assets is determined by using the weighted-average of historical real returns for major asset classes based on target asset allocations. For all periods presented, the discount rate for the benefit obligation was calculated by matching expected future cash flows to the USI Consulting Group Pension Discount Curve (AA). The following table presents expected plan benefit payments over the ten years succeeding December 31, 2025:
($ in thousands) | Pension |  | Post-Retirement |  | Total |
2026 | $ | 30,922 |  | $ | 837 |  | $ | 31,759 |
2027 |  | 32,352 |  |  | 873 |  |  | 33,225 |
2028 |  | 33,579 |  |  | 885 |  |  | 34,464 |
2029 |  | 34,791 |  |  | 852 |  |  | 35,643 |
2030 |  | 36,008 |  |  | 817 |  |  | 36,825 |
2031-2035 |  | 190,109 |  |  | 3,772 |  |  | 193,881 |
. | $ | 357,761 |  | $ | 8,036 |  | $ | 365,797 |
The expected benefit payments are estimated based on the same assumptions used to measure the Company’s benefit obligations at December 31, 2025. The fair values of pension plan assets at December 31, 2025 and 2024, by asset category, are shown in the following tables. The fair value is presented based on the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s fair value hierarchy that prioritizes inputs into the valuation techniques used to measure fair value. Level 1 uses quoted prices in active markets for identical assets, Level 2 uses significant observable inputs, and Level 3 uses significant unobservable inputs. In accordance with Subtopic 820-10 common trust funds are reported at fair value using net asset value per share (or its equivalent) as a practical expedient and are not classified in the fair value hierarchy. For all investments, the plan attempts to use quoted market prices of identical assets on active exchanges, or Level 1 measurements. Where such quoted market prices are not available, the plan will use quoted prices for similar instruments or discounted cash flows to estimate the value, reported as Level 2.
| December 31, 2025 |
Fair Value Measurements by Asset Category / Fund | Level 1 |  | Level 2 |  | Level 3 |  | Total |
($ in thousands) |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Cash and equivalents | $ | 5,732 |  | $ | — |  | $ | — |  | $ | 5,732 |
Total cash and cash equivalents |  | 5,732 |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | 5,732 |
Fixed income securities |  | 37,238 |  |  | 34,384 |  |  | — |  |  | 71,622 |
Exchange Traded Fund (ETF)-Fixed income |  | 4,834 |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | 4,834 |
Total fixed income |  | 42,072 |  |  | 34,384 |  |  | — |  |  | 76,456 |
Domestic and foreign stock |  | 50,646 |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | 50,646 |
Mutual funds-equity |  | 40,900 |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | 40,900 |
Total equity |  | 91,546 |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | 91,546 |
Total assets at fair value |  | 139,350 |  |  | 34,384 |  |  | — |  |  | 173,734 |
Collective investment trust fund - equity |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | 62,901 |
Common trust funds (fixed income) |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | 483,491 |
Common trust fund (real assets) |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | 66,875 |
Total | $ | 139,350 |  | $ | 34,384 |  | $ | — |  | $ | 787,001 |
| December 31, 2024 |
Fair Value Measurements by Asset Category / Fund | Level 1 |  | Level 2 |  | Level 3 |  | Total |
($ in thousands) |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Cash and equivalents | $ | 6,357 |  | $ | — |  | $ | — |  | $ | 6,357 |
Total cash and cash equivalents |  | 6,357 |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | 6,357 |
Fixed income securities |  | 26,476 |  |  | 37,726 |  |  | — |  |  | 64,202 |
Exchange Traded Fund (ETF)-Fixed income |  | 4,133 |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | 4,133 |
Total fixed income |  | 30,609 |  |  | 37,726 |  |  | — |  |  | 68,335 |
Domestic and foreign stock |  | 48,279 |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | 48,279 |
Mutual funds-equity |  | 38,812 |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | 38,812 |
Total equity |  | 87,091 |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | 87,091 |
Total assets at fair value |  | 124,057 |  |  | 37,726 |  |  | — |  |  | 161,783 |
Common trust funds (fixed income) |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | 514,562 |
Common trust fund (real assets) |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | 58,475 |
Total | $ | 124,057 |  | $ | 37,726 |  | $ | — |  | $ | 734,820 |
The following table presents the percentage allocation of the plan assets by asset category and corresponding target allocations at December 31, 2025 and 2024.
| Plan Assets |  |  | Target Allocation
| at December 31, |  |  | at December 31,
| 2025 |  |  | 2024 |  |  | 2025 | 2024
Asset category: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Cash and equivalents |  | 1 |  | % |  | 1 |  | % | 0 - 5% | 0 - 5%
Fixed income securities |  | 71 |  |  |  | 79 |  |  | 8-72% | 8-72%
Equity securities |  | 20 |  |  |  | 12 |  |  | 16-22% | 16-22%
Real assets |  | 8 |  |  |  | 8 |  |  | 4-10% | 4-10%
|  | 100 |  | % |  | 100 |  | % |  |
Plan assets are invested in long-term strategies and evaluated within the context of a long-term investment horizon, and the ultimate pension benefit obligation they are meant to satisfy. The overall goal of the investment program is to ensure solvency of the Plan, enabling the payment of pension obligations over time as they come due. Plan assets are diversified across multiple asset classes to minimize the risk of large losses, and are increasingly allocated to assets with characteristics that are likely to mimic the interest rate sensitivity of the Plan’s liabilities. Through these investments, the Plan seeks to offset the volatility of its liabilities and therefore reduce the volatility of the Plan’s funded status. Typically, the allocation will include investments in long duration fixed income securities. Short-term fluctuations in value are considered secondary to long-term results. The investment performance of the plan is regularly monitored to ensure that appropriate risk levels are being achieved and to evaluate returns versus a suitable market benchmark. The benefits investment committee meets periodically to review the policy, strategy, and performance of the plans.

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