v3.26.1
Investment Securities
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2026
Investment Securities  
Investment Securities

Note 2:   Investment Securities

The amortized cost and approximate fair values, together with gross unrealized gains and losses, of securities available for sale and held to maturity were as follows:

June 30, 2026

Gross

Gross

Amortized

Unrealized

Unrealized

Fair

  ​ ​ ​

Cost

  ​ ​ ​

Gains

  ​ ​ ​

Losses

  ​ ​ ​

Value

(In thousands)

Securities available for sale:

 

  ​

 

  ​

 

  ​

 

  ​

Treasury notes

$

30,462

$

$

67

$

30,395

Federal Agencies

 

259,999

 

 

1,503

 

258,496

Mortgage-backed - Agency (1) - multi-family

3,544

6

3,538

Mortgage-backed - Non-Agency - residential - fair value option (2)

356,050

356,050

Mortgage-backed - Agency - residential - fair value option (2)

171,626

171,626

Total securities available for sale

$

821,681

$

$

1,576

$

820,105

Securities held to maturity:

Mortgage-backed - Non-Agency - multi-family

$

375,441

$

$

2,422

$

373,019

Mortgage-backed - Non-Agency - residential

627,580

1,778

629,358

Mortgage-backed - Non-Agency - healthcare

340,267

340,267

Mortgage-backed - Agency - multi-family

11,597

698

10,899

Total securities held to maturity

$

1,354,885

$

1,778

$

3,120

$

1,353,543

FHLB and other equity securities (3)

$

227,589

(1)Agency includes government sponsored entities, such as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae, FHLB and FCB.
(2)Fair value option securities represent securities which the Company has elected to carry at fair value with changes in the fair value recognized in earnings as they occur.
(3)The Company reports the carrying value utilizing the measurement alternative election, reflecting any impairments or other adjustments if observable price changes occur for identical or similar investments of the same issuer.

December 31, 2025

Gross

Gross

Amortized

Unrealized

Unrealized

Fair

  ​ ​ ​

Cost

  ​ ​ ​

Gains

  ​ ​ ​

Losses

  ​ ​ ​

Value

(In thousands)

Securities available for sale:

 

  ​

 

  ​

 

  ​

 

  ​

Treasury notes

$

30,635

$

45

$

$

30,680

Federal Agencies

 

259,591

 

21

 

104

 

259,508

Mortgage-backed - Agency (1) - multi-family

3,562

6

3,556

Mortgage-backed - Non-Agency - residential - fair value option (2)

385,460

385,460

Mortgage-backed - Agency - residential - fair value option (2)

185,854

185,854

Total securities available for sale

$

865,102

$

66

$

110

$

865,058

Securities held to maturity:

Mortgage-backed - Non-Agency - multi-family

$

438,430

$

$

950

$

437,480

Mortgage-backed - Non-Agency - residential

699,957

1,655

127

701,485

Mortgage-backed - Non-Agency - healthcare

393,588

4

393,584

Mortgage-backed - Agency - multi-family

11,684

679

11,005

Total securities held to maturity

$

1,543,659

$

1,655

$

1,760

$

1,543,554

FHLB and other equity securities (3)

$

227,589

(1)Agency includes government sponsored entities, such as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae, FHLB, and FCB.
(2)Fair value option securities represent securities which the Company has elected to carry at fair value with changes in the fair value recognized in earnings as they occur.

(3)

The Company reports the carrying value utilizing the measurement alternative election, reflecting any impairments or other adjustments if observable price changes occur for identical or similar investments of the same issuer.

Accrued interest on securities available for sale totaled $5.1 million at June 30, 2026 and $3.8 million at December 31, 2025, and is excluded from the estimate of credit losses.

Accrued interest on securities held to maturity totaled $4.1 million at June 30, 2026 and $5.0 million at December 31, 2025, and is excluded from the estimate of credit losses.

The amortized cost and fair value of securities available for sale at June 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025, by contractual maturity, are shown below. Expected maturities will differ from contractual maturities because issuers may

have the right to call or prepay obligations with or without call or prepayment penalties. Securities not due at a single maturity date are shown separately.

June 30, 2026

December 31, 2025

Amortized

Fair

Amortized

Fair

  ​ ​ ​

Cost

  ​ ​ ​

Value

  ​ ​ ​

Cost

  ​ ​ ​

Value

(In thousands)

Securities available for sale:

Within one year

$

30,462

$

30,395

$

85,226

$

85,292

After one through five years

 

259,999

 

258,496

 

205,000

 

204,896

 

290,461

 

288,891

 

290,226

 

290,188

Mortgage-backed - Agency - multi-family

3,544

3,538

3,562

3,556

Mortgage-backed - Non-Agency residential - fair value option

356,050

356,050

385,460

385,460

Mortgage-backed - Agency - residential - fair value option

171,626

171,626

185,854

185,854

$

821,681

$

820,105

$

865,102

$

865,058

Securities held to maturity:

Mortgage-backed - Non-Agency - multi-family

$

375,441

$

373,019

$

438,430

$

437,480

Mortgage-backed - Non-Agency - residential

627,580

629,358

699,957

701,485

Mortgage-backed - Non-Agency - healthcare

340,267

340,267

393,588

393,584

Mortgage-backed - Agency - multi-family

11,597

10,899

 

11,684

 

11,005

$

1,354,885

$

1,353,543

$

1,543,659

$

1,543,554

During the three and six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025, no securities available for sale were sold.

The following tables show the Company’s gross unrealized losses and fair value of the Company’s investment securities with unrealized losses, for which an ACL has not been recorded, aggregated by investment class and length of time that individual securities have been in a continuous unrealized loss position at June 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025:

June 30, 2026

12 Months or

Less than 12 Months

 Longer

Total

Gross

Gross

Gross

Fair

Unrealized

Fair

Unrealized

Fair

Unrealized

  ​ ​ ​

Value

  ​ ​ ​

Losses

  ​ ​ ​

Value

  ​ ​ ​

Losses

  ​ ​ ​

Value

  ​ ​ ​

Losses

(In thousands)

Securities available for sale:

 

  ​

 

  ​

 

  ​

 

  ​

 

  ​

 

  ​

Treasury notes

$

30,395

$

67

$

$

$

30,395

$

67

Federal Agencies

258,496

1,503

258,496

1,503

Mortgage-backed - Agency - multi-family

3,538

6

3,538

6

$

292,429

$

1,576

$

$

$

292,429

$

1,576

December 31, 2025

12 Months or

Less than 12 Months

Longer

Total

  ​ ​ ​

  ​ ​ ​

Gross

  ​ ​ ​

  ​ ​ ​

Gross

  ​ ​ ​

  ​ ​ ​

Gross

Fair

Unrealized

Fair

Unrealized

Fair

Unrealized

Value

Losses

Value

Losses

Value

Losses

(In thousands)

Securities available for sale:

 

  ​

 

  ​

 

  ​

 

  ​

 

  ​

 

  ​

Federal Agencies

$

204,896

$

104

$

$

$

204,896

$

104

Mortgage-backed - Agency - multi-family

3,556

6

3,556

6

$

208,452

$

110

$

$

$

208,452

$

110

Allowance for Credit Losses

There were no credit-related factors underlying unrealized losses on available for sale securities at June 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025, accordingly no allowance for credit losses has been recorded. Furthermore, unrealized losses on the Company’s investment securities portfolio have not been recognized as an expense because the securities are of high credit quality, and the decline in fair values is attributable to changes in the prevailing interest rate environment since the purchase date. Fair value is expected to recover as securities reach maturity and/or the interest rate environment returns to conditions similar to when these securities were purchased.

Securities held to maturity are primarily comprised of non-Agency mortgage-backed senior securities secured by multi-family, single-family or healthcare properties, and Agency mortgage-backed securities secured by multi-family properties. The Agency securities held to maturity are Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities and backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government and have an implicit or explicit government guarantee. Accordingly, no allowance for credit losses has been recorded for these securities.

For non-Agency mortgage-backed senior securities, qualitative factors are evaluated, including the timeliness of principal and interest payments under the contractual terms of the securities, as well as the investment ratings assigned to the securities by third parties and their qualification to be pledged to FHLB as collateral. In the event credit stress in the underlying loans is identified in any single security, risk grades and collateral values are evaluated to determine whether Merchants Bank has exposure to credit losses.

The Company has a held to maturity, non-Agency, mortgage-backed security with an amortized cost value of $375.4 million and fair value of $373.0 million at June 30, 2026, acquired via a mortgage securitization transaction facilitated by the Company, which has experienced delinquencies in some of the underlying loans. As of June 30, 2026, 37% of the portfolio was delinquent. Additionally, the security is a senior tranche that has credit protection from the first 17.3% of losses. The Company continues to receive timely interest payments on this security, which is current as of June 30, 2026. The Company is not expected to have credit losses based on the loan-to-value of the underlying loans, its credit protection and expected cash flows. However, given the delinquencies on some of the underlying loans, the Company has classified the security as Special Mention as of June 30, 2026. This same security had an amortized cost value of $438.4 million and fair value of $437.5 million and was also classified as Special Mention at December 31, 2025. All other securities held to maturity were classified as Pass as of June 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025. No allowance for credit losses was recorded for this, or any other non-Agency security, as of June 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025. See Note 4: Loans and Allowance for Credit Losses on Loans for more information on the definitions of risk classifications for both loans and securities.