Investments

Investments consist primarily of investments in the Company's sponsored products. The Company's investments, excluding the assets of consolidated investment products discussed in Note 17, at March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, were as follows:



	March 31, 2019		December 31, 2018
($ in thousands)
Investment securities - fair value	$	56,362	$	59,271
Investment securities - available for sale	—		2,023
Equity method investments	11,051		10,573
Nonqualified retirement plan assets	7,519		6,716
Other investments	993		975
Total investments	$	75,925	$	79,558

Investment Securities - fair value

Investment securities - fair value consist of investments in the Company's sponsored funds, separately managed accounts and trading debt securities. The composition of the Company’s investment securities - fair value is summarized as follows:



	March 31, 2019				December 31, 2018
	Cost		Fair Value		Cost		Fair Value
($ in thousands)
Investment Securities - fair value
Sponsored funds	$	33,082	$	33,075	$	43,507	$	40,191
Equity securities	16,628		18,827		16,380		16,981
Debt securities	4,460		4,460		3,816		2,099
Total Investment Securities - fair value	$	54,170	$	56,362	$	63,703	$	59,271

For the three months ended March 31, 2019, the Company recognized a realized loss of $0.8 million on the sale of its investment securities - fair value. For the three months ended March 31, 2018, the Company recognized a realized loss of $0.4 million on investment securities - fair value.

Investments securities - available for sale

The investment securities - available for sale primarily consist of investments in CLOs for which the Company provides investment management services and does not consolidate. The Company had no investment securities - available for sale as of March 31, 2019. The composition of the Company’s investment securities - available for sale is summarized as follows:



	December 31, 2018
	Cost		Unrealized Loss			Unrealized Gain		Fair Value
($ in thousands)
Investment Securities - available for sale
Investments in CLOs	$	3,696	$	(1,673	)	$	—	$	2,023