Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Fair Value Measurements

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Fair Value Measurements
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2014
Fair Value Disclosures [Abstract]  
Fair Value Measurements
7. Fair Value Measurements

ASC 820, Fair Value Measurement (“ASC 820”) establishes the accounting guidance for fair value measurements that applies to all financial assets and financial liabilities that are being measured and reported on a fair value basis. Under the accounting guidance, the Company makes fair value measurements that are classified and disclosed in one of the following three categories:

Level 1: Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for identical, unrestricted assets or liabilities;

Level 2: Quoted prices in markets that are not active, or inputs which are observable, either directly or indirectly, for substantially the full term of the asset or liability, or

Level 3: Inputs reflect management’s best estimate of what market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability at the measurement date. Consideration is given to the risk inherent in the valuation technique and the risk inherent in the inputs to the model.

Investments held in a rabbi trust are carried at fair value and considered to be in the Level 1 classification.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The Company’s cash and cash equivalents, commissions and other receivables, net, accounts payable and accrued expenses and commissions payable, are carried at cost, which approximates fair value based on their immediate or short-term maturities and terms, that approximate current market terms and these financial instruments are considered to be in the Level 1 classification.

As the Company’s obligations under notes payable to former stockholders and certain employee and agent notes receivable bear fixed interest rates that approximate the rates currently offered to the Company for similar debt instruments, the Company has determined that the carrying value on these instruments approximates fair value. As the Company’s obligations under SARs liability (included in deferred compensation and commissions caption) bear variable interest rates, the Company has determined that the carrying value approximates the fair value. These are considered to be in the Level 1 classification.