Stock-Based Awards

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Abstract]

19. Stock-Based Awards

On June 20, 2016, the Company’s stockholders approved a new equity award plan under which the Company can issue up to 10,000,000 shares of common stock (less one share for every share granted under prior plans since March 31, 2016 and inclusive of shares available under the prior plans as of March 31, 2016) in the form of stock options and other stock-based awards.

The Company grants equity awards to employees and directors which include restricted stock awards (“RSAs”), restricted stock units (“RSUs”), performance-based restricted stock units (“PRSUs”) and stock options. Certain awards described below are subject to acceleration under certain conditions.


Stock options:		Generally issued for terms of ten years and may vest after at least one year of service and have an exercise price equal to the Company’s stock price on the grant date. The Company estimates the fair value of stock options (when granted) using the Black-Scholes option pricing model.

RSAs/RSUs:		Awards are valued based on the Company’s stock price on grant date and generally vest ratably over three years.

PRSUs:		These awards cliff vest three years from the grant date and contain a market condition whereby the number of PRSUs ultimately vesting is tied to how the Company’s total shareholder return (“TSR”) compares to a peer group of other publicly traded asset managers over the three-year period. A Monte Carlo simulation is used to value these awards.


		The number of PRSUs vesting ranges from 0% to 200% of the target number of PRSUs granted, as follows:

		• If the relative TSR is below the 25 th percentile, then 0% of the target number of PRSUs granted will vest; • If the relative TSR is at the 25th percentile, then 50% of the target number of PRSUs granted will vest; and • If the relative TSR is above the 25th percentile, then linear scaling is applied such that the percent of the target number of PRSUs vesting is 100% at the 50th percentile and capped at 200% of the target number of PRSUs granted for performance at the 85th percentile (or 100th percentile for grants made during 2019 and 2020). • If the Company’s TSR is negative, the target number of PRSUs vesting is capped at 100 % regardless of the relative TSR percentile.

During the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, total stock-based compensation expense was $

9,998

, $

11,706

and $

11,590

, respectively, and the related tax benefit recognized on the Consolidated Statements of Operations was $

2,327

, $

2,739

and $

2,791

, respectively.

The actual tax benefit realized for the tax deductions for share-based compensation was $2,032, $833 and $1,649 during the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.

A summary of unrecognized stock-based compensation expense and average remaining vesting period is as

follows:


	December 31, 2021
	Unrecognized Stock- Based Compensation		Weighted-Average Remaining Vesting Period (Years)

Employees and directors	$	8,825		1.23

Stock Options

A summary of option activity is as follows:


	Options			Weighted-Average Exercise Price

Outstanding January 1, 2019		570,537		$	4.36
Granted		—			—
Forfeitures/expirations		(1	)		6.50
Exercised		(85,000	)		0.70

Outstanding at December 31, 2019		485,536		$	4.80
Granted		—			—
Forfeitures/expirations		(63,536	)		2.49
Exercised		(117,000	)		4.81

Outstanding at December 31, 2020		305,000		$	5.68
Granted		—			—
Forfeitures/expirations		(162,500	)		5.72
Exercised		(142,500	)		5.64

Outstanding at December 31, 2021		—		$	—

The total intrinsic value of options exercised during the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019 was $51, $168 and $301, respectively. Cash received from option exercises during the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019 was $815, $292 and $160, respectively.

RSAs,

RSUs and PRSUs

The aggregate fair value of RSAs, RSUs and PRSUs that vested during the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019 was $10,940, $4,783 and $6,720, respectively. A summary of activity is as follows:


	RSAs					RSUs					PRSUs (1)
	Shares			Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value		Shares			Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value		Shares			Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value
Unvested Balance at January 1, 2019		1,957,102		$	11.47		9,494		$	11.52		—		$	—
Granted		2,794,703			6.16		35,283			6.45		270,872	(2)		6.24
Vested		(1,053,980	)		11.25		(5,499	)		9.85		—			—
Forfeited		(453,267	)		9.09		—			—		(38,262	)		6.24

Unvested Balance at December 31, 2019		3,244,558		$	7.29		39,278			7.20		232,610		$	6.24
Granted		1,653,186			3.80		32,901			3.82		117,013	(2)		3.11
Vested		(1,206,879	)		8.13		(27,130	)		7.45		—			—
Forfeited		(110,122	)		4.79		(5,641	)		5.39		(8,311	)		6.24

Unvested Balance at December 31, 2020		3,580,743		$	5.38		39,408		$	4.46		341,312		$	5.17
Granted		1,642,266			5.46		31,170			5.43		257,043	(2)		6.49
Vested		(1,897,699	)		5.78		(15,136	)		4.73		—			—
Forfeited		(288,405	)		5.11		(452	)		5.37		(47,669	)		5.74

Unvested Balance at December 31, 2021		3,036,905		$	5.20		54,990		$	4.93		550,686		$	5.73

(1)	Represents the target number of PRSUs granted and outstanding. The number of PRSUs that ultimately vest ranges from 0% to 200% of this amount.

(2)

A Monte Carlo simulation was used to value these awards using the following assumptions for the Company and the peer group: (i) beginning

90-day

average stock prices; (ii) valuation date stock prices; (iii) correlation coefficients based upon the price data used to calculate the historical volatilities; and (iv) the following additional assumptions:


	Granted in 2021			Granted in 2020			Granted in 2019
Historical stock price volatility (low)		34	%		21	%		22	%
Historical stock price volatility (high)		57	%		36	%		42	%
Historical stock price volatility (average)		44	%		26	%		28	%
Risk free interest rate		0.17	%		1.47	%		2.56	%
Expected dividend yield		0.00	%		0.0	%		0.0	%