SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2017

The accompanying Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements are unaudited and are presented in accordance with the requirements for quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and consequently do not include all of the information and footnote disclosures required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”). The Company’s Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements reflect all adjustments (consisting only of normal recurring adjustments) necessary in the opinion of management to present fairly our interim financial position and results of operations and cash flows for the periods presented. The accompanying Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements are presented in accordance with GAAP and the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).

The accompanying unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with our Consolidated Financial Statements, and notes thereto, included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016, filed with the SEC. Operating results for the periods in these condensed consolidated financial statements are not necessarily indicative of the results for any future period. The accompanying Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of Westwood and its subsidiaries. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated upon consolidation.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Recently Adopted

In March 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2016-09, Compensation - Stock Compensation: Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting. The purpose of the amendment is to simplify the accounting for share-based payment transactions, and includes changes to the accounting for the classification of awards as either equity or liabilities, classification of certain share-based payment items in the statement of cash flows, the accounting for forfeitures and certain income tax consequences. The amendment is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016, and interim periods within those annual periods. Amendments related to the presentation of employee taxes paid on the statement of cash flows should be applied retrospectively. The amendment related to forfeitures, where an entity may account for forfeitures as they occur, should be applied retrospectively by means of a cumulative-effect adjustment to equity at the beginning of the period in which the guidance is adopted. Amendments requiring recognition of excess tax benefits and tax deficiencies in the income statement and the practical expedient for estimating expected term should be applied prospectively. An entity may elect to apply the amendments related to the presentation of tax benefits on the statement of cash flows using either a prospective or retrospective transition method.

We adopted ASU 2016-09 effective January 1, 2017. The following summarizes the effects of the adoption on our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements:

Income Taxes - Upon adoption of this standard, all excess tax benefits and tax deficiencies, including tax benefits of dividends on share-based payment awards, are recognized as income tax expense or benefit in the consolidated statement of comprehensive income. The tax effects of exercised or vested awards are treated as discrete items in the reporting period in which they occur. As a result, the Company recognized discrete adjustments to income tax expense in the first nine months of 2017 of $1.0 million related to excess tax benefits, decreasing our effective tax rate for the first nine months of 2017 to 29.1%. Without the adjustment, our effective tax rate would have been 33.0%. The Company did not have any unrecognized excess tax benefits as of December 31, 2016 and therefore there was no cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings related to income taxes. The Company adopted the amendments related to the recognition of excess tax benefits and tax shortfalls prospectively, with no adjustments made to prior periods.

Forfeitures - Prior to adoption, stock-based compensation expense was recognized on a straight-line basis, net of estimated forfeitures, such that expense was recognized for stock-based awards that were expected to vest. A forfeiture rate was estimated annually and revised, if necessary, in subsequent periods if actual forfeitures differed from initial estimates. Upon adoption of this standard, the Company no longer applies an estimated forfeiture rate and instead accounts for forfeitures as they occur. The Company applied the modified retrospective adoption approach, resulting in a $711,000 cumulative-effect reduction to “Retained earnings” with the offset to “Additional paid-in-capital” on January 1, 2017.

Statements of Cash Flows - The Company historically accounted for excess tax benefits on the consolidated statements of cash flows as a financing activity. Upon adoption of this standard, excess tax benefits are classified along with other income tax cash flows as an operating activity. The change in cash flow classification associated with excess tax benefits was adopted prospectively, resulting in the classification of the $1.0 million excess tax benefit as an operating activity during the nine months ended September 30, 2017. No change in classification was necessary for the presentation of restricted stock returned for payment of taxes, as the Company has historically presented such payments as a financing activity. The Company adopted this portion of the standard on a prospective basis, with no adjustments made to prior periods.

Earnings Per Share - The Company uses the treasury stock method to compute diluted earnings per share, unless the effect would be anti-dilutive. Under the new standard, the Company is no longer required to estimate the tax effect of anticipated windfall benefits or shortfalls when projecting proceeds available for share repurchases in calculating dilutive shares. The Company utilized the modified retrospective adoption approach, with no adjustments made to prior periods.

Not Yet Adopted

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606), which

resulted from a joint project by the FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board to clarify the principles for

recognizing revenue and to develop a common revenue standard for GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards

("IFRS"). The ASU will be effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim reporting periods within that reporting period. Retrospective application is required, with the entity either applying the change to each prior reporting period presented or applying the cumulative effect of each prior reporting period presented at the date of initial application. Management has completed a detailed review of the terms and conditions of our current contracts, including performance based fees, and we do not anticipate a significant change in the timing of revenue recognized. As part of our review we analyzed our current business process and internal controls and do not anticipate implementing new procedures to successfully adopt the standard. We expect to enhance and add additional disclosures surrounding our revenue process including disaggregation of revenue and information about performance obligations that will help provide the financial statement users a better understanding of the nature, amount, timing and potential uncertainty of the revenue being recognized.

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-04, Intangibles - Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment. The amendment eliminates step two from the goodwill impairment test in order to simplify the subsequent measurement of goodwill. Under step two, an entity had to perform procedures to determine the fair value of its assets and liabilities at the impairment testing date following procedures required to determine the fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed in a business combination. Under ASU 2017-04, an entity should perform its annual, or interim, goodwill impairment test by comparing the fair value of a reporting unit with its carrying amount and should recognize an impairment charge for the amount by which the carrying amount exceeds the reporting unit's fair value. The amendment is effective, on a prospective basis, for annual or interim periods beginning after December 15, 2019, with early adoption permitted. We do not expect the amendment to have a material impact on our Consolidated Financial Statements and expect to adopt the standard within the required time frame.

In May 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-09, Compensation- Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Scope of Modification Accounting. The ASU provides guidance on the types of changes to the terms or conditions of share-based payment awards to which an entity would be required to apply modified accounting under ASC 718. The purpose of the amendment is to reduce diversity, cost and complexity in practice when analyzing and applying these modifications. The ASU is effective for periods beginning after December 15, 2017. We do not expect the amendment to have a material impact on our Consolidated Financial Statements and expect to adopt the standard within the required time frame.

Earnings Per Share

Basic earnings per common share is computed by dividing net income available to common stockholders by the weighted average number of shares outstanding for the applicable period. Diluted earnings per share is computed based on the weighted average number of shares outstanding plus the effect of any dilutive shares of restricted stock granted to employees and non-employee directors.

Fair Value Measurements

We determine estimated fair values for our financial instruments using available information. The fair value amounts discussed in our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements are not necessarily indicative of either amounts realizable upon disposition of these instruments or our intent or ability to dispose of these assets. The estimated fair value of cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, income taxes receivable, other current assets, accounts payable and accrued liabilities, dividends payable, compensation and benefits payable and income taxes payable approximates their carrying value due to their short-term maturities. The carrying amount of investments designated as “trading” securities, primarily U.S. Government and Government agency obligations, money market funds, Westwood Funds® mutual funds, the UCITS Fund and Westwood Trust common trust fund shares, equals their fair value based on prices quoted in active markets and, with respect to common trust funds, the net asset value of the shares held as reported by each fund. Market values of our money market holdings generally do not fluctuate.

ASC 820, Fair Value Measurements, defines fair value, establishes a framework for measuring fair value and requires disclosures regarding certain fair value measurements. ASC 820 establishes a three-tier hierarchy for measuring fair value, as follows:


•	level 1 – quoted market prices in active markets for identical assets


•	level 2 – inputs other than quoted prices that are directly or indirectly observable


•	level 3 – significant unobservable inputs where there is little or no market activity

Variable Interest Entities

We have evaluated all of our advisory relationships with the UCITS Fund, the Westwood Funds®, limited liability companies (“LLCs”) and our relationship as sponsor of the Common Trust Funds (“CTFs”) to determine whether each of these entities is a variable interest entity (“VIE”) or voting ownership entity (“VOE”). Based on our analysis, we determined that the LLCs and CTFs were VIEs, as the at-risk equity holders do not have the ability to direct the activities that most significantly impact the entity’s economic performance, and the Company and its representatives have a majority control of the entities' respective boards of directors and can influence the respective entities' management and affairs. Although we have related parties on the UCITS Fund board of directors, the shareholders have rights to remove the current directors with a simple majority vote, so we determined the UCITS Fund is not a VIE. As the Company and its representatives do not have representation on the Westwood Funds® independent board of directors, which directs the activities that most significantly impact the entity's economic performance, we determined that the Westwood Funds® were not VIEs. Therefore, the UCITS Fund and the Westwood Funds® should be analyzed under the VOE consolidation method. Based on our analysis of our seed investments in these entities for the periods ending September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, we have not consolidated the LLCs or CTFs under the VIE method or the UCITS Fund or the Westwood Funds® under the VOE method, and therefore the financial results of these entities are not included in the Company’s consolidated financial results.

Restricted Stock Subject Only To A Service Condition Policy [Text Block]

Restricted Stock Subject Only to a Service Condition

We calculate compensation cost for restricted stock grants by using the fair market value of our common stock at the date of grant, the number of shares issued and an adjustment for restrictions on dividends. This compensation cost is amortized on a straight-line basis over the applicable vesting period.

Restricted Stock Subject to Service and Performance Conditions

Under the Plan, certain key employees were provided agreements for grants of restricted shares that vest over multiple year periods subject to achieving annual performance goals established by the Compensation Committee of Westwood’s Board of Directors. Each year the Compensation Committee establishes a specific goal for that year’s vesting of the restricted shares. For 2017, the goal is based on Income before income tax from our audited consolidated statement of comprehensive income for fiscal 2017. The date that the Compensation Committee establishes the annual goal is considered to be the grant date and the fair value measurement date to determine expense on the shares that are likely to vest. The vesting period ends when the Compensation Committee formally approves the performance-based restricted stock vesting based on the Income before income tax from the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements. If a portion of the performance-based restricted shares does not vest, no compensation expense is recognized for that portion and any previously recognized compensation expense related to shares that do not vest is reversed. In March 2017, the Compensation Committee established the fiscal 2017 goal for our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer as Income before income taxes of $24.0 million for 50% of their respective awards, and an Income before income taxes target of $34.0 million (ranging from 25% of target for threshold performance of $30.3 million to 185% of target for maximum performance of $42.5 million) for the remaining 50% of their respective awards. For all other restricted stock grants subject to performance conditions, the Compensation Committee established the fiscal 2017 goal as Income before income taxes of at least $24.0 million. These performance grants allow the Compensation Committee to exclude certain items, including legal settlements, from the Income before income taxes target. At the Committee's discretion, we excluded the $4.0 million legal settlement expense recorded during the third quarter of 2017 from our forecasted Income before income taxes target and concluded that it was probable that we would exceed the target performance goals required to vest the applicable percentage of the performance-based restricted shares this year and continued recording expense related to the shares expected to vest.