Fair Value Disclosures

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

The Company’s financial instruments include cash equivalents, fees receivable from customers, accounts payable and accrued liabilities, all of which are normally short-term in nature. The Company believes that the carrying amounts of these financial instruments reasonably approximate their fair values due to their short-term nature. The Company’s financial instruments also include its outstanding variable-rate borrowings under the 2020 Credit Agreement. The Company believes that the carrying amounts of its variable-rate borrowings reasonably approximate their fair values because the rates of interest on those borrowings reflect current market rates of interest for similar instruments with comparable maturities.

The Company enters into a limited number of derivatives transactions but does not enter into repurchase agreements, securities lending transactions or master netting arrangements. Receivables or payables that result from derivatives transactions are recorded gross in the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

FASB ASC Topic 820 provides a framework for the measurement of fair value and a valuation hierarchy based on the transparency of inputs used in the valuation of assets and liabilities. Classification within the valuation hierarchy is based on the lowest level of input that is significant to the resulting fair value measurement. The valuation hierarchy contains three levels. Level 1 measurements consist of quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. Level 2 measurements include significant other observable inputs such as quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets; identical assets or liabilities in inactive markets; observable inputs such as interest rates and yield curves; and other market-corroborated inputs. Level 3 measurements include significant unobservable inputs such as internally-created valuation models. Generally, the Company does not utilize Level 3 valuation inputs to remeasure any of its assets or liabilities. However, Level 3 inputs may be used by the Company when certain long-lived assets, including identifiable intangible assets, goodwill, and right-of-use assets are measured at fair value on a nonrecurring basis when there are indicators of impairment. Additionally, Level 3 inputs may be used by the Company in its required annual impairment review of goodwill. Information regarding the periodic assessment of the Company’s goodwill is included in Note 1 — Business and Significant Accounting Policies. The Company does not typically transfer assets or liabilities between different levels of the valuation hierarchy.

The table below presents the fair value of certain financial assets and liabilities that are recorded at fair value and measured on a recurring basis in the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets (in thousands).



	December 31,
Description	2023		2022
Assets:
Values based on Level 1 inputs:
Deferred compensation plan assets (1)	$	10,290	$	6,065
Total Level 1 inputs	10,290		6,065
Values based on Level 2 inputs:
Deferred compensation plan assets (1)	104,555		84,318
Foreign currency forward contracts (2)	1,646		3,236
Interest rate swap contract (3)	7,059		10,298
Total Level 2 inputs	113,260		97,852
Total Assets	$	123,550	$	103,917
Liabilities:
Values based on Level 2 inputs:
Deferred compensation plan liabilities (1)	$	121,708	$	96,641
Foreign currency forward contracts (2)	1,466		2,611

Total Level 2 inputs	123,174		99,252
Total Liabilities	$	123,174	$	99,252

(1)The Company has a deferred compensation plan for the benefit of certain highly compensated officers, managers and other key employees (see Note 15 — Employee Benefits). The assets consist of investments in money market funds, mutual funds and company-owned life insurance contracts. The money market funds consist of cash equivalents while the mutual fund investments consist of publicly-traded and quoted equity shares. The Company considers the fair values of these assets to be based on Level 1 inputs, and such assets had fair values of $10.3 million and $6.1 million as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The carrying amounts of the life insurance contracts equal their cash surrender values. Cash surrender value represents the estimated amount that the Company would receive upon termination of a contract, which approximates fair value. The Company considers life insurance contracts to be valued based on Level 2 inputs, and such assets had fair values of $104.6 million and $84.3 million at December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The related deferred compensation plan liabilities are recorded at fair value, or the estimated amount needed to settle the liability, which the Company considers to be a Level 2 input.

(2)The Company enters into foreign currency forward exchange contracts to hedge the effects of adverse fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates (see Note 13 — Derivatives and Hedging). Valuation of these contracts is based on observable foreign currency exchange rates in active markets, which the Company considers to be a Level 2 input.

(3)The Company has interest rate swap contracts that hedge the risk of variability from interest payments on its borrowings (see Note 6 — Debt). The fair values of interest rate swaps are based on mark-to-market valuations prepared by a third-party broker. Those valuations are based on observable interest rates from recently executed market transactions and other observable market data, which the Company considers to be Level 2 inputs. The Company independently corroborates the reasonableness of the valuations prepared by the third-party broker by using an electronic quotation service.

The table below presents the carrying amounts (net of deferred financing costs) and fair values of financial instruments that are not recorded at fair value in the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets (in thousands). The estimated fair value of the financial instruments was derived from quoted market prices provided by an independent dealer, which the Company considers to be a Level 2 input.


	Carrying Amount				Fair Value
	December 31,				December 31,
Description	2023		2022		2023		2022
2028 Notes	$	794,088	$	792,934	$	759,040	$	740,864
2029 Notes	594,794		593,951		543,408		523,842
2030 Notes	793,189		792,324		709,600		688,856
Total	$	2,182,071	$	2,179,209	$	2,012,048	$	1,953,562

Assets Measured at Fair Value on a Nonrecurring Basis

The Company’s certain long-lived assets, including identifiable intangible assets, goodwill, and right-of-use assets assets are measured at fair value on a nonrecurring basis when there are indicators of impairment. During the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, the Company recorded impairment charges of $20.4 million, $54.0 million, and $49.5 million, respectively, on right-of-use assets and other long-lived assets primarily related to certain office leases that the Company determined will no longer be used, net of a reduction in the related lease liabilities. The impairment was derived by comparing the fair value of the impacted assets to the carrying value of those assets as of the impairment measurement date, as required under ASC Topic 360 using Level 3 inputs. See Note 7 — Leases for additional discussion related to these impairment charges.

Additionally, see Note 2 — Acquisitions and Divestiture for fair value measurements of certain assets and liabilities acquired in business combinations that are recorded at fair value on a nonrecurring basis.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

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