PIPER SANDLER COMPANIES

NOTE 19| EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

The Company has various employee benefit plans, and substantially all employees are covered by at least one plan. The plans include health and welfare plans and a tax-qualified retirement plan (the "Retirement Plan"). During the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, the Company incurred employee benefits expenses of $41.4 million, $36.9 million and $35.9 million, respectively.

Health and Welfare Plans

Company employees who meet certain work schedule and service requirements are eligible to participate in the Company's health and welfare plans. The Company subsidizes the cost of coverage for employees. The health plans contain cost-sharing features such as deductibles and coinsurance.

The Company is self-insured for losses related to health claims, although it obtains third-party stop loss insurance coverage on an individual plan basis. Self-insured liabilities are based on a number of factors, including historical claims experience, an estimate of claims incurred but not reported and valuations provided by third-party actuaries. For the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, the Company recognized expense of $24.3 million, $21.3 million and $20.9 million, respectively, in compensation and benefits expense on the consolidated statements of operations related to its health plans.

Retirement Plan

The Retirement Plan is a defined contribution retirement savings plan. The defined contribution retirement savings plan allows qualified employees, at their option, to make contributions through salary deductions under Section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code. Employee contributions are 100 percent matched by the Company to a maximum ofsix percent of recognized compensation up to the social security taxable wage base. The Retirement Plan also provides for a discretionary profit sharing contribution by the Company. Payment and amount of the profit sharing contribution are determined annually on a discretionary basis. For the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, the Company didnot make a profit sharing contribution. Although the Company's matching and profit sharing contributions vest immediately, a participant must be employed on December 31 to receive that year's employer contributions.