Consolidated Investment Product

During 2015, the Company contributed $40.0 million to a SPE that was created specifically to accumulate bank loan assets for securitization as a potential CLO that will be managed by its Newfleet affiliate. The SPE is a VIE and the Company consolidates the SPE's assets and liabilities as a consolidated investment product within its financial statements as it is the primary beneficiary of the VIE. The Company determined that it is the primary beneficiary of the VIE as the Company has the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the economic performance of th entity and has the obligation to absorb losses, or the rights to receive benefits from, the VIE that could potentially be significant to the VIE.

The following table presents the balances of the consolidated investment product that were reflected in the Consolidated Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2015. There was no consolidated investment product at December 31, 2014.



	As of December 31,
	2015
($ in thousands)
Total cash equivalents	$	8,297
Total investments	199,485
Other assets	1,467
Debt	(152,597		)
Securities purchased payable	(18,487		)
The Company’s net interests in the consolidated investment product	$	38,165

Fair Value Measurements of Consolidated Investment Product

The assets and liabilities of the consolidated investment product measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of December 31, 2015 by fair value hierarchy level were as follows:



	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
($ in thousands)
Assets
Cash equivalents	$	8,297	$	—	$	—	$	8,297
Bank loans	—		199,485		—		199,485
Total Assets Measured at Fair Value	$	8,297	$	199,485	$	—	$	207,782

The following is a discussion of the valuation methodologies used for the assets and liabilities of the Company’s consolidated investment product measured at fair value.

Cash equivalents represent investments in money market funds. Cash investments in actively traded money market funds are valued using published net asset values and are classified as Level 1.

Bank loans represent the underlying debt securities held in the sponsored product which are consolidated by the Company. Bank loan investments include debt securities, which are valued based on quotations received from an independent pricing service. Pricing services do not provide pricing for all securities, and therefore indicative bids from dealers are utilized, which are based on pricing models used by market makers in the security and are also included within Level 2.

The estimated fair value of debt at December 31, 2015, which has a variable interest rate, approximates its carrying value and is classified as Level 2. The securities purchase payable at December 31, 2015 approximates fair value due to the short-term nature of the instruments.

Debt of Consolidated Investment Product

On August 17, 2015, the SPE, entered into a three-year term $160.0 million financing transaction with a bank lending counterparty (the “Financing Facility”). The proceeds of the Financing Facility are intended to be used to purchase and warehouse commercial bank loan assets pending the securitization of such assets as a CLO. The size of the Financing Facility may be increased subject to the occurrence of certain events and the mutual consent of the parties. The Financing Facility is secured by all the assets of the SPE and initially bears interest at a rate of three-month LIBOR plus 1.25% per annum (with such interest rate, upon completion of the initial nine-month ramp-up period, increasing to three-month LIBOR plus 2.0% per annum). The Financing Facility contains standard covenants and event of default provisions (including loan-to-value ratio triggers) and foreclosure remedies upon such default in favor of the lender thereunder. The $40.0 million the Company contributed to the SPE serves as first loss protection for the bank lending counterparty under the Financing Facility. In the event of default, the recourse to the Company is limited to its investment in the SPE. At December 31, 2015 $152.6 million was outstanding under the Financing Facility.