LEASES
The Company determines if an arrangement is a lease or contains a lease at inception. The Company has operating leases for corporate offices and equipment with remaining lease terms of 1 to 12 years, some of which include options to extend the lease for up to 21 years. For leases with renewal options, the lease term is extended to reflect renewal options the Company is reasonably certain to exercise.
Operating lease assets and operating lease liabilities are recognized based on the present value of the future lease payments over the lease term at the commencement date. As most of the Company’s leases do not provide an implicit rate, the Company estimates its incremental borrowing rate based on information available at the commencement date in determining the present value of future payments. Lease expense related to the net present value of payments is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term.
The lease for the Company’s Fort Mill, South Carolina office was previously accounted for as a financing lease. In April 2025, the Company entered into a 20 year credit tenant lease which was accounted for as a financing arrangement as it did not qualify for sale-leaseback accounting primarily due to the existence of an option to purchase the property for $1 at the end of the lease term. As a result of the transaction, the term was extended, a financing obligation of $109.3 million was recorded, and the existing finance lease liability of $105.0 million was derecognized. The Company allocated $104.0 million and $5.3 million to building and land, respectively, in the property and equipment, net line item in the Company's consolidated statements of financial condition. In connection with the sale-leaseback, the Company incurred incremental costs of $2.5 million, which were included in the basis of the amount financed. The financing obligation has a stated interest rate of 6.4% and matures on May 1, 2045.
Net carrying values of building and land assets associated with financing obligations were $81.3 million and $5.3 million, respectively, at December 31, 2025 and are included in property and equipment, net in the consolidated statements of financial condition. Assets associated with finance leases were $84.6 million at December 31, 2024, and were included in property and equipment, net in the consolidated statements of financial condition.
The components of lease expense were as follows (in thousands):
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Years Ended December 31, |
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 |
| Operating lease cost | $ | 31,316 | | $ | 21,274 | | $ | 19,303 | |
| Finance lease cost: | | | |
| Amortization of right-of-use assets | $ | 969 | | $ | 3,876 | | $ | 3,876 | |
| Interest on lease liabilities | 2,057 | | 8,385 | | 8,382 | |
| Total finance lease cost | $ | 3,026 | | $ | 12,261 | | $ | 12,258 | |
Supplemental weighted-average information related to leases was as follows: | | | | | | | | |
| December 31, |
| 2025 | 2024 |
| Weighted-average remaining lease term (years): | | |
| Finance leases | 0.0 | 21.8 |
| Operating leases | 5.9 | 5.0 |
| Weighted-average discount rate: | | |
| Finance leases | — | | 7.94 | % |
| Operating leases | 6.26 | % | 6.55 | % |
Maturities of operating lease liabilities as of December 31, 2025 were as follows (in thousands): | | | | | |
| 2026 | $ | 48,174 | |
| 2027 | 49,063 | |
| 2028 | 47,704 | |
| 2029 | 29,785 | |
| 2030 | 17,084 | |
| Thereafter | 57,017 | |
| Total lease payments | 248,827 | |
| Less imputed interest | 44,857 | |
| Total | $ | 203,970 | |
The minimum calendar year payments and maturities of the financing obligation as of December 31, 2025 were as follows (in thousands):
| | | | | |
| 2026 | $ | 1,540 | |
| 2027 | 1,816 | |
| 2028 | 2,113 | |
| 2029 | 2,433 | |
| 2030 | 2,777 | |
| Thereafter | 97,754 | |
| Total | $ | 108,433 | |