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.

Restricted shares granted under the 2019 Plan generally vest in equal installments, over performance or service periods generally ranging from one year to three years, beginning one year from the date of grant. A portion of restricted shares awarded are performance awards, which vest upon the satisfactory attainment of certain corporate financial targets. 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, 2026 and 2025, approximately $512,000 and $659,000, respectively, in expense was recognized in regard to these awards. The expected future compensation expense related to the 539,396 non-vested restricted shares outstanding at March 31, 2026 is approximately $3.6 million over a weighted average period of 1.7 years.

On March 2, 2026 options to purchase 426,473 shares of Company common stock were awarded with a grant date fair value of $7.17 per option. Stock options granted under the 2019 Plan generally 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 $18.28, 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 3.72%, volatility of 32.97%, and a dividend yield of 0.00%.

On March 3, 2025 options to purchase 454,327 shares of Company common stock were awarded with a grant date fair value of $6.24 per option. Stock options granted under the 2019 Plan generally 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 $16.23, 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 4.02%, volatility of 31.10%, 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, 2026 and 2025, approximately $528,000 and $475,000 in expense was recognized in regard to these awards. The expected future compensation expense related to the 863,951 non-vested options outstanding at March 31, 2026 is $5.1 million over a weighted average period of 2.4 years.


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

Outstanding, January 1, 2026	4,025,715	$	16.22	4.8	$	—
Granted	426,473	18.28		—	—
Exercised	(53,685)	14.64		—	—
Expired	(56,335)	21.32		—	—
Forfeited	(1,014)	15.94		—	—









Outstanding, March 31, 2026	4,341,154	$	16.37	5.2	6,167,069
Options exercisable at March 31, 2026	3,477,203	$	16.15	4.2	$	5,605,877


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

Outstanding, January 1, 2025	3,757,032	$	16.22	5.4	$	574,569
Granted	454,327	16.23		—	—

Expired	(55,203)	15.74		—	—
Forfeited	(7,862)	16.16		—	—









Outstanding, March 31, 2025	4,148,294	$	16.23	5.7	$	—
Options exercisable at March 31, 2025	3,278,152	$	16.17	4.8	$	—

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.

During the three months ended March 31, 2026, 53,685 options were exercised. There were no options exercised during the three months ended March 31, 2025. During the three months ended March 31, 2026, the aggregate intrinsic value of options exercised was approximately $101,000.

On January 28, 2026, the Board of Directors of the Company adopted the Columbia Financial, Inc. 2026 Phantom Stock Plan (the “Phantom Stock Plan”). The purpose of the Phantom Stock Plan is to promote the long-term financial success of the Company by providing a means to attract, retain and reward individuals who contribute to the Company’s success and to further align their interests with those of the Company.

Under the terms of the Phantom Stock Plan, eligible employees and directors of the Company may be granted phantom stock units, which confer to the recipient the benefits of owning shares of the Company’s common stock without the actual ownership or transfer of shares. Each phantom stock unit entitles the participant to receive, upon the vesting of the phantom stock unit, a cash amount equal to the fair market value of a share of Company common stock as of the vesting date. “Fair market value” is defined as the last sale price reported on the Nasdaq Stock Market, or other national securities exchange on which shares of the Company’s common stock are traded, as of the vesting date (or, if the Company’s common stock is not listed on a national securities exchange on the vesting date, as otherwise determined by the Compensation Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors in accordance with the terms of the Phantom Stock Plan). Phantom stock units may be granted as performance awards, and awards under the Phantom Stock Plan are subject to the terms and conditions of the Company’s LTIP in effect for the applicable plan year.

The Phantom Stock Plan is administered by the Compensation Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors, which will have the discretion and authority to interpret the Phantom Stock Plan and make all determinations that may be necessary or advisable for the administration of the Phantom Stock Plan. The aggregate number of phantom stock units available for awards granted under the Phantom Stock Plan at any time for each plan year will be determined from time to time by the Compensation Committee based on the LTIP for the applicable plan year.

The Company granted 80,159 phantom stock units under the Phantom Stock Plan during the three months ended March 31, 2026. Phantom stock units are recorded in compensation and employee benefits expense based on the fair value of the units on the balance sheet date. The fair value of these awards is updated at each balance sheet date and changes in the fair value of the vested portions of the awards are recorded as increases or decreases to compensation expense within compensation and employee benefits in the Consolidated Statements of Income. All of the outstanding phantom stock units at March 31, 2026 met the criteria to be treated under liability classification in accordance with ASC 718, given that these awards will settle in cash on the vesting date.