At the Company's annual meeting of stockholders held on June 6, 2019, stockholders approved the Columbia Financial, Inc. 2019 Equity Incentive Plan ("2019 Plan") which provides for the issuance of up to 7,949,996 shares (2,271,427 restricted stock awards and 5,678,569 stock options) of common stock.

At March 31, 2023, there were 798,232 shares remaining available for future restricted stock awards and 1,907,647 shares remaining available for future stock option grants under the 2019 plan

On March 2, 2022, 51,746 shares of restricted stock were awarded, with a grant date fair value of $21.79 per share. To fund the grant of restricted common stock, the Company issued shares from authorized but unissued shares.

On October 31, 2022, 38,730 shares of restricted stock were awarded, with a grant date fair value of $20.54 per share. To fund the grant of restricted common stock, the Company issued shares from authorized unissued shares.

On November 21, 2022, 13,722 shares of restricted stock were awarded, with a grant date fair value of $21.86 per share. To fund the grant of restricted common stock, the Company issued shares from authorized unissued shares.

On December 19, 2022, 18,984 shares of restricted stock were awarded, with a grant date fair value of $21.07 per share. To fund the grant of restricted common stock, the Company issued shares from authorized unissued shares.

Restricted shares granted under the 2019 Plan generally vest in equal installments, over performance or service periods ranging from 1 year to 5 years, beginning 1 year from the date of grant. A portion of restricted shares awarded were performance awards, which vested upon the satisfactory attainment of certain corporate financial targets during the year ended December 31, 2022. Management recognizes compensation expense for the fair value of restricted shares on a straight-line basis over the requisite performance or service period. During the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, approximately $1 million and $1.2 million in expense was recognized in regard to these awards. The expected future compensation expense related to the 402,601 non-vested restricted shares outstanding at March 31, 2023 is approximately $5.0 million over a weighted average period of 1.5 years.


	Number of Restricted Shares	Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value

Non-vested at January 1, 2023	430,954	$	17.31

Vested	(26,424)	21.16
Forfeited	(1,929)	21.12
Non-vested at March 31, 2023	402,601	$	17.10


	Number of Restricted Shares	Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value

Non-vested at January 1, 2022	1,054,335	$	15.78
Grants	51,746	21.79
Vested	(27,775)	17.86
Forfeited	(31,570)	16.91
Non-vested at March 31, 2022	1,046,736	$	15.98

On March 21, 2022, options to purchase 130,951 shares of Company common stock were awarded with a grant date fair value of $6.51 per option. These stock options granted under the 2019 Plan on such date, vest in equal installments over the service period of three years beginning one year from the date of grant. These stock options were granted at an exercise price of $21.79, which represents the fair value of the Company's common stock price on the grant date based on the closing market price, and have an expiration period of approximately 10 years. The fair value of stock options granted was estimated utilizing the Black-Scholes option pricing model using the following assumptions: expected life of six years risk-free rate of return of 2.34%, volatility of 25.31%, and a dividend yield of 0.00%.

On October 31, 2022, options to purchase 173,766 shares of Company common stock were awarded with a grant date fair value of $7.22 per option. Stock options granted under the 2019 Plan vest in equal installments over the service period of three years beginning one year from the date of grant. These stock options were granted at an exercise price of $20.54, which represents the fair value of the Company's common stock price on the grant date based on the closing market price, and have an expiration period of 10 years. The fair value of stock options granted was estimated utilizing the Black-Scholes option pricing model using the following assumptions: expected life of six years, risk-free rate of return of 4.19%, volatility of 26.25%, and a dividend yield of 0.00%.

On December 19, 2022, options to purchase 58,912 shares of Company common stock were awarded with a grant date fair value of $6.79 per option. Stock options granted under the 2019 Plan generally vest in equal installments over the service period of one year beginning one year from the date of grant. These stock options were granted at an exercise price of $21.07, which represents the fair value of the Company's common stock price on the grant date based on the closing market price, and have an expiration period of approximately 10 years. The fair value of stock options granted was estimated utilizing the Black-Scholes option pricing model using the following assumptions: expected life of 5.5 years, risk-free rate of return of 3.71%, volatility of 26.11%, and a dividend yield of 0.00%.

The expected life of the options represents the period of time that stock options are expected to be outstanding and is estimated using the simplified approach, which assumes that all outstanding options will be exercised at the midpoint of the vesting date and full contractual term. The risk-free rate of return is based on the rates on the grant date of a U.S. Treasury Note with a term equal to the expected option life. Since the Company recently converted to a public company and does not have sufficient historical price data, the expected volatility is based on the historical daily stock prices of Company stock plus a peer group of similar entities based on factors such as industry, stage of life cycle, size and financial leverage. The Company has not paid any cash dividends on its common stock.

Management recognizes expense for the fair value of these awards on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period. During the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, approximately $921,000 and $756,300 in expense was recognized in regard to these awards. The expected future compensation expense related to the 1,542,386 non-vested options outstanding at March 31, 2023 is $5.4 million over a weighted average period of 1.5 years.


	Number of Stock Options	Weighted Average Exercise Price		Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term (in years)	Aggregate Intrinsic Value

Outstanding, January 1, 2023	3,436,869	$	16.26	6.9	$	18,435,239

Exercised	(3,618)	15.60		—	—
Expired	(2,117)	15.60		—	—
Forfeited	(8,055)	20.03		—	—
Outstanding, March 31, 2023	3,423,079	$	16.25	6.7	$	7,893,117









Options exercisable at March 31, 2023	1,880,693	$	15.85	6.4	$	4,711,769


	Number of Stock Options	Weighted Average Exercise Price		Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term (in years)	Aggregate Intrinsic Value

Outstanding, January 1, 2022	3,637,542	$	15.78	7.6	$	18,654,905
Granted	130,951	21.79		—	—
Exercised	(62,859)	16.42		—	—
Expired	(1,412)	15.60		—	—
Forfeited	(61,961)	16.84		—	—
Outstanding, March 31, 2022	3,642,261	$	15.92	7.5	$	20,401,381








Options exercisable at March 31, 2022	1,398,446	$	15.69	7.3	$	8,140,661

The aggregate intrinsic value in the table above represents the total pre-tax intrinsic value, the difference between the Company's closing stock price on the last trading day of the period and the exercise price, multiplied by the number of in-the-money options.