Benefit Plans

The Company maintains an equity award plan pursuant to which qualified and non-qualified options may be issued. No common share options were issued in 2015, 2014 and 2013. The Company granted 1,248,501, 1,265,500 and 2,000,000 common share options on December 31, 2010 (“2010 options”), January 8, 2010 (“2009 options”) and December 31, 2008 (“2008 options”), respectively, at an exercise price of $7.95, $6.39 and $5.60, respectively. The 2010 options (1) vested 20% annually on each December 31, 2011 through 2015 and (2) terminate on the earlier of (x) six months of termination of service with the Company and (y) December 31, 2020. The 2009 options (1) vested 20% annually on each December 31, 2010 through 2014 and (2) terminate on the earlier of (x) six months of termination of service with the Company and (y) December 31, 2019. The 2008 options (1) vested 50% following a 20-day trading period where the average closing price of a common share of the Company on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) was $8.00 or higher and vested 50% following a 20-day trading period where the average closing price of a common share of the Company on the NYSE was $10.00 or higher, and (2) terminate on the earlier of (x) termination of service with the Company or (y) December 31, 2018. As a result of the share dividends paid in 2009, each of the 2008 options is exchangeable for approximately 1.13 common shares at an exercise price of $4.97 per common share.

The Company engaged third parties to value the options as of each option's respective grant date. The third parties determined the value to be $2,422 and $2,771 for the 2010 options and 2009 options, respectively, using the Black-Scholes model and $2,480 for the 2008 options using the Monte Carlo model. The options are considered equity awards as they are settled through the issuance of common shares. As such, the options were valued as of the grant date and do not require subsequent remeasurement. There were several assumptions used to fair value the options including the expected volatility in the Company's common share price based upon the fluctuation in the Company's historical common share price. The more significant assumptions underlying the determination of fair value for options granted were as follows:



	2010 Options			2009 Options			2008 Options
Weighted-average fair value of options granted	$	1.94		$	2.19		$	1.24
Weighted-average risk-free interest rate	2.54		%	3.29		%	1.33		%
Weighted-average expected option lives (in years)	6.50			6.70			3.60
Weighted-average expected volatility	49.00		%	59.08		%	59.94		%
Weighted-average expected dividend yield	7.40		%	6.26		%	14.40		%

The Company recognized compensation expense relating to these options over an average of 5.0 years for the 2010 options and 2009 options and 3.6 years for the 2008 options. The Company recognized $480, $1,038 and $1,037 in compensation expense in 2015, 2014 and 2013 respectively. The Company does not have any unrecognized compensation costs relating to the outstanding options as of December 31, 2015. The intrinsic value of an option is the amount by which the market value of the underlying common share at the date the option is exercised exceeds the exercise price of the option. No options were exercised in 2015 and the total intrinsic value of options exercised for the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2013 were $2,780 and $8,607, respectively.

Share option activity during the years indicated is as follows:



	Number of Shares		Weighted-Average Exercise Price Per Share
Balance at December 31, 2012	3,480,080		$	6.44
Exercised	(1,519,179	)	5.77
Forfeited	(5,200	)	7.47
Balance at December 31, 2013	1,955,701		6.95
Exercised	(594,791	)	6.71
Forfeited	(10,500	)	7.46
Balance at December 31, 2014 and 2015	1,350,410		$	7.05

As of December 31, 2015, the aggregate intrinsic value of options that were outstanding and exercisable was $1,277.

Non-vested share activity for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, is as follows:



	Number of Shares		Weighted-Average Value Per Share
Balance at December 31, 2013	2,521,046		$	10.46
Vested	(537,003	)	9.16
Forfeited	(13,658	)	9.96
Balance at December 31, 2014	1,970,385		10.82
Granted	812,679		7.70
Vested	(413,714	)	11.95
Balance at December 31, 2015	2,369,350		$	9.55

During 2015, the Company granted to certain executive officers performance-based shares, which vest based on the Company’s total shareholder return growth after a three-year measurement period relative to an index (321,018 shares) and its peers (321,011 shares). Dividends will not be paid on these grants until earned. Once the performance criteria are met and the actual number of shares earned is determined, such shares vest immediately. The fair value of the grants was determined at the grant date using a multifactor Monte Carlo simulation model. In addition, during 2015, the Company granted 170,650 non-vested common shares to certain employees which vest ratably over a three-year service period. Compensation expense is recognized over the requisite service period for all grants.

As of December 31, 2015, of the remaining 2,369,350 non-vested shares, 1,720,824 are subject to time-based vesting and 648,526 are subject to performance-based vesting. At December 31, 2015, there are 3,320,961 awards available for grant. The Company has $13,707 in unrecognized compensation costs relating to the non-vested shares that will be charged to compensation expense over an average of approximately 3.3 years.

The Company has established a trust for certain officers in which vested common shares granted for the benefit of the officers are deposited. The officers exert no control over the common shares in the trust and the common shares are available to the general creditors of the Company. As of December 31, 2015 and 2014, there were 427,531 common shares in the trust.

The Company sponsors a 401(k) retirement savings plan covering all eligible employees. The Company makes a discretionary matching contribution on a portion of employee participant salaries and, based on its profitability, may make an additional discretionary contribution at each fiscal year end to all eligible employees. These discretionary contributions are subject to vesting under a schedule providing for 25% annual vesting starting with the first year of employment and 100% vesting after four years of employment. Approximately $333, $299 and $298 of contributions are applicable to 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively.

During 2015, 2014 and 2013, the Company recognized $8,201, $7,550 and $7,145, respectively, in expense relating to scheduled vesting and issuance of common share grants.