Leases

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2020

Operating Leases – The Company leases office space under non-cancelable lease agreements, which expire on various dates through 2035. The lease terms include options to extend the lease when it is reasonably certain that the Company will exercise that option. The Company reflects lease expense over the lease terms on a straight-line basis. Occupancy lease agreements, in addition to base rentals, generally are subject to escalation provisions based on certain costs incurred by the landlord. The Company does not have any leases with variable lease payments. Occupancy and Equipment Rental on the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations includes operating lease cost for office space of $12,248 and $36,272 for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, respectively, and $10,649 and $30,992 for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively, and variable lease cost of $1,841 and $4,696 for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, respectively, and $1,754 and $6,572 for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively.

On July 1, 2018, the Company entered into a new lease agreement for office space at its headquarters at 55 East 52nd St., New York, New York. Under the terms of the agreement, the Company committed to extend the lease term for the Company's current space and add space on up to seven additional floors, three of which commenced as of the lease’s effective date. The Company anticipates that it will take possession of the remainder of these floors over the next three years. On December 6, 2019, the lease was modified to add an additional floor and to extend the lease term for all current and prospective space to end on December 31, 2035.

In conjunction with the lease of office space, the Company has entered into letters of credit in the amounts of $5,549 and $5,536, as of September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively, which are secured by cash that is included in Other Assets on the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition.

The Company has entered into various operating leases for the use of office equipment (primarily computers, printers, copiers and other information technology related equipment). Occupancy and Equipment Rental on the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations includes operating lease cost for office equipment of $1,170 and $3,497 for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, respectively, and $1,132 and $3,059 for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively.

The Company uses its secured incremental borrowing rate to determine the present value of its right-of-use assets and lease liabilities. The determination of an appropriate incremental borrowing rate requires significant assumptions and judgment. The Company's incremental borrowing rate was calculated based on the Company's recent debt issuances and current market conditions. The Company scales the rates appropriately depending on the life of the leases.

The Company incurred net operating cash outflows of $22,469 and $15,778 for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively, related to its operating leases, which were net of cash received from lease incentives of $10,267 and $12,854, respectively.

Other information as it relates to the Company's operating leases is as follows:



	For the Three Months Ended September 30,				For the Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2020		2019		2020			2019
New Right-of-Use Assets obtained in exchange for new operating lease liabilities	$	19,818	$	13,598	$	107,986		$	28,909


					September 30, 2020			September 30, 2019
Weighted-average remaining lease term - operating leases					11.5 years			9.0 years
Weighted-average discount rate - operating leases					4.11		%	5.53		%

As of September 30, 2020, the maturities of the undiscounted operating lease liabilities for which the Company has commenced use are as follows:



2020 (October 1 through December 31)	$	12,472
2021	52,192
2022	51,660
2023	36,560
2024	29,595
Thereafter	277,230
Total lease payments	459,709
Less: Tenant Improvement Allowances	(18,586		)
Less: Imputed Interest	(97,380		)
Present value of lease liabilities	343,743
Less: Current lease liabilities	(41,018		)
Long-term lease liabilities	$	302,725

In conjunction with the lease agreement to expand its headquarters at 55 East 52nd St., New York, New York, and lease agreements at certain other locations, the Company entered into leases for office space which have not yet commenced and thus are not yet included on the Company's Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition as right-of-use assets and lease liabilities. The Company anticipates that it will take possession of these spaces by the end of 2023. These spaces will have lease terms of 3 to 13 years once the Company has taken possession. The additional future payments under these arrangements are $197,835 as of September 30, 2020.