Investments

Investments primarily comprise strategic investments and deferred compensation investments. Investments consist of the following (in thousands):



	March 31, 2017		December 31, 2016
Strategic investments:
Investments accounted for under the equity method	$	17,313	$	16,707
Investments held at fair value	2,379		9,198
Investments held at cost, less impairment	2,790		2,789
Total strategic investments	22,482		28,694
Other investments	2,234		2,285
Total investments	$	24,716	$	30,979

For the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016, the Company recorded income of approximately $48 thousand and $4.8 million, respectively, related to Investments accounted for under the equity method of accounting, which is recorded within Investment income and other, net in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. The Company's investments accounted for under the equity method are considered to be related parties. See Footnote 11 "Related Parties".

In the first quarter of 2016, one of the Company's investments held at adjusted cost, less impairment made a distribution to its owners, including the Company. As a result of this distribution, the Company adjusted the investment's carrying value and recognized a pre-tax gain of $2.3 million, which is included in Investment income and other, net on the Consolidated Statements of Operations for the three months ended March 31, 2016.

Investments held at fair value are accounted for as available for sale securities and any unrealized gains or losses are recorded net of tax in Other comprehensive (loss) income.

Bats/General Atlantic Transactions

In the fourth quarter 2016, the Company sold approximately 2.0 million shares of common stock of Bats in the open market (“open market transactions”) and sold an additional 2.2 million shares of common stock of Bats in a block sale ("block sale").

In November 2016 KCG entered into a purchase agreement with GA-GTCO Interholdco, LLC (“General Atlantic” or “GA”) to exchange approximately 8.9 million shares of its Bats common stock for i) GA’s 18.7 million shares of KCG Class A Common Stock and, ii) 8.1 million Warrants (the “Swap Transaction”).

The Company’s 6.875% Indenture (as defined below) contains covenants that limit the Company’s ability to repurchase shares of KCG Class A Common Stock and Warrants.

Substantially all of the exchange was completed in November 2016, however as a result of these limitations, and as contemplated in the agreement with GA, the Company could not finalize the repurchase of approximately 1.1 million Warrants, and therefore retained approximately 94,000 common shares of Bats at December 31, 2016. The $2.9 million value of these remaining Bats shares was recorded as a receivable from GA within Other assets and a related $2.9 million liability to GA was recorded within Accrued expenses and other liabilities on the Company’s December 31, 2016 Consolidated Statement of Financial Condition. The exchange was completed in January 2017.

Pursuant to the terms of the Swap Transaction, the Company paid transaction fees of $2.9 million to Jefferies LLC, comprising half due from the Company and the other half on behalf of GA. The settlement of the portion paid by the Company on behalf of GA was completed by KCG retaining Bats common stock with a fair value of $1.4 million at the time of the Swap Transaction, or approximately 46,000 shares of the aforementioned 94,000 shares of Bats shares owed to GA. The remaining 48,000 shares owed to GA were considered to be a derivative for financial reporting purposes as of December 31, 2016. See Footnote 5 "Derivative Financial Instruments".

As a result of the open market transactions, block sale and Swap Transaction, the Company sold approximately 13.0 million shares of Bats, and the Company’s total holdings were reduced to approximately 206,000 shares or less than 0.5% of total shares of Bats common stock outstanding. The Company believes that it no longer has significant influence over Bats, and as a result, in November 2016, the Company ceased to account for its remaining interest in Bats under the equity method.

The approximately 206,000 shares of Bats remaining as an investment had a fair value of $6.9 million at December 31, 2016 and were classified as available-for-sale securities (“AFS”), which was recorded within Investments on the Company’s Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition as of December 31, 2016.

In the first quarter of 2017, the Company sold its remaining shares of Bats and recorded a pre-tax gain of $4.8 million which is included in Investment income and other, net on the Consolidated Statements of Operations for the three months ended March 31, 2017. As of March 31, 2017, the Company does not own any shares of Bats.