Fair Value of Financial Instruments

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

4. Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The Company utilizes a portfolio management company for the valuation of the majority of its investments. This company is an independent, third-party vendor recognized to be an industry leader with access to market information that obtains or computes fair market values from quoted market prices, pricing for similar securities, recently executed transactions, cash flow models with yield curves and other pricing models. For valuations obtained from the pricing service, the Company performs due diligence to understand how the valuation was calculated or derived, focusing on the valuation technique used and the nature of the inputs.

Based on the fair value hierarchy, the Company classifies its cash equivalents and available-for-sale securities within Level 1 or Level 2. This is because the Company values its cash equivalents and available-for-sale securities using quoted market prices or alternative pricing sources and models utilizing market observable inputs.

Assets measured or disclosed at fair value on a recurring basis as of December 31, 2015 are summarized below:

	Fair Value Measurements Using
	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
	(in thousands)
Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$	49,778	$	—	$	—	$	49,778
Certificates of deposit		—		21,505		—		21,505
U.S. Government debt securities		—		46,276		—		46,276
Corporate debt securities		—		20,895		—		20,895
	$	49,778	$	88,676	$	—	$	138,454

The Company’s corporate debt securities are all investment grade.

Assets measured or disclosed at fair value on a recurring basis as of December 31, 2014 are summarized below:

	Fair Value Measurements Using
	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
	(in thousands)
Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$	32,780	$	—	$	—	$	32,780
Certificates of deposit		—		13,429		—		13,429
U.S. Government debt securities		—		38,385		—		38,385
Commercial paper		—		2,499		—		2,499
Corporate debt securities		—		21,825		—		21,825
	$	32,780	$	76,138	$	—	$	108,918

The Company had no assets or liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis using significant unobservable inputs (Level 3) at December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014.

Investment securities are exposed to various risks such as interest rate, market and credit. Due to the level of risk associated with certain investment securities and the level of uncertainty related to changes in the value of investment securities, it is at least reasonably possible that changes in risks in the near term would result in material changes in the fair value of investments.

- 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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