XML 32 R22.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.5.0.2
Goodwill
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2016
Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]  
Goodwill
Goodwill

The Company's goodwill of $137.9 million resides in its Private Client Division ("PCD") reporting unit. Goodwill of a reporting unit is subject to at least an annual test for impairment to determine if the estimated fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount. Goodwill of a reporting unit is required to be tested for impairment between annual tests if an event occurs or circumstances change that would more likely than not reduce the fair value of a reporting unit below its carrying amount.
In estimating the fair value of the PCD reporting unit, the Company uses both the market comparable approach and income approach. The market comparable approach is based on comparisons of the subject company (or reporting unit) to public companies whose stocks are actively traded ("Price Multiples") or to similar companies engaged in an actual merger or acquisition ("Precedent Transactions"). As part of this process, multiples of value relative to financial variables, such as earnings or stockholders' equity, are developed and applied to the appropriate financial variables of the subject company to indicate its value. The income approach involves estimating the present value of the subject company's future cash flows by using projections of the cash flows that the business is expected to generate, and discounting these cash flows at a given rate of return ("Discounted Cash Flow" or "DCF"). Each of these standard valuation methodologies requires the use of management estimates and assumptions.
In its Price Multiples valuation analysis, the Company uses various operating metrics of comparable companies, including revenues, after-tax earnings, EBITDA as well as price-to-book value ratios at a point in time. The Company analyzes prices paid in Precedent Transactions that are comparable to the business conducted in the PCD. The DCF analysis includes the Company's assumptions regarding discount rate, growth rates of the PCD's revenues, expenses, EBITDA, and capital expenditures, adjusted for current economic conditions and expectations. The Company weighs each of the three valuation methods equally in its overall valuation. Given the subjectivity involved in selecting which valuation method to use, the corresponding weightings, and the input variables for use in the analyses, it is possible that a different valuation model and the selection of different input variables could produce a materially different estimate of the fair value of the PCD reporting unit.

Due to a decrease in the Company's stock price, persistently low short-term interest rates, as well as the continued declining trend in transaction-based retail commissions and financial advisers headcount in PCD, the Company performed an interim goodwill impairment analysis as of August 31, 2016, which did not result in any impairment charges. The PCD reporting unit had an estimated fair value that was in excess of its carrying value. If short-term interest rates remain low and the current decline in transaction-based retail commissions and financial adviser headcount is not temporary, this reporting unit could face the risk of a goodwill impairment charge, which may adversely affect earnings in the period in which the charge is recorded.