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 2017, 2016 and 2015. 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. All deferred compensation costs relating to the outstanding options were fully amortized by 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, 2017 and 2016 were $1,064 and $2,856, respectively.

Share option activity during the years indicated is as follows:



	Number of Shares		Weighted-Average Exercise Price Per Share
Balance at December 31, 2014 and 2015	1,350,410		$	7.05
Exercised	(944,169	)	7.17
Balance at December 31, 2016	406,241		6.78
Exercised	(271,451	)	6.48
Balance at December 31, 2017	134,790		$	7.39

As of December 31, 2017, the aggregate intrinsic value of options that were outstanding and exercisable was $305.

Non-vested share activity for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, is as follows:



	Number of Shares		Weighted-Average Value Per Share
Balance at December 31, 2015	2,369,350		$	9.55
Granted	1,034,019		5.23
Vested	(252,059	)	10.13
Balance at December 31, 2016	3,151,310		8.09
Granted	777,900		6.83
Vested	(161,912	)	8.90
Balance at December 31, 2017	3,767,298		$	7.79

During 2017 and 2016, the Company granted common shares to certain employees and trustees as follows:



	2017	2016
Performance Shares⁽¹⁾
Shares issued:
Index - 1Q	106,706	404,466
Peer - 1Q	106,705	404,463
Index - 2Q	163,466	—
Peer - 2Q	163,463	—

Grant date fair value per share:⁽²⁾
Index - 1Q	$6.82	$4.53
Peer - 1Q	$6.34	$4.58
Index - 2Q	$4.05	$—
Peer - 2Q	$4.27	$—

Non-Vested Common Shares:⁽³⁾
Shares issued	237,560	225,090
Grant date fair value	$2,551	$1,724

(1)

The shares vest based on the Company's total shareholder return growth after a three-year measurement period relative to an index and a group of Company peers. 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 2Q shares were subject to shareholder approval, which was obtained in May 2017.


(2)	The fair value of grants was determined at the grant date using a Monte Carlo simulation model.


(3)	The shares vest ratably over a three-year service period.

In addition, during 2017, 2016 and 2015, the Company issued 57,334, 50,816, and 48,051, respectively, of fully vested common shares to non-management members of the Company's Board of Trustees with a fair value of $596, $427, and $468, respectively.

As of December 31, 2017, of the remaining 3,767,298 non-vested shares, 1,769,503 are subject to time-based vesting and 1,997,795 are subject to performance-based vesting. At December 31, 2017, there are 4,978,802 awards available for grant. The Company has $8,707 in unrecognized compensation costs relating to the non-vested shares that will be charged to compensation expense over an average of approximately 2.5 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, 2017 and 2016, 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 $439, $357 and $333 of contributions are applicable to 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

During 2017, 2016 and 2015, the Company recognized $8,333, $8,415 and $8,201, respectively, in expense relating to scheduled vesting and issuance of common share grants.