Note 2    Marketable Securities

The Company’s marketable securities are all classified as available-for-sale within “Current Assets” in the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets. Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has established three levels of inputs that may be used to measure fair value:

Level 1Observable inputs such as quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities;

Level 2Observable inputs, other than Level 1 inputs in active markets, that are observable either directly or indirectly; and

Level 3Unobservable inputs for which there is little or no market data, which require the reporting entity to develop its own assumptions.

The Company’s marketable securities valued using Level 1 inputs include three public company equity securities, for which quoted market prices are available. The Company’s bond and commercial paper portfolio is valued using Level 2 inputs. The Company’s corporate and municipal bonds and commercial paper are valued using a combination of pricing for similar securities, recently executed transactions, cash flow models with yield curves and other pricing models utilizing observable inputs, which are considered Level 2 inputs.

For Level 2 investment valuation, the Company utilizes standard pricing procedures of its investment advisory firm(s), which include various third-party pricing services. These procedures also require specific price monitoring practices as well as pricing review reports, valuation oversight and pricing challenge procedures to maintain the most accurate representation of investment fair market value.

The Company accrues interest on its bond and commercial paper portfolio throughout the life of each bond and commercial paper held. Dividends from the equity securities are recognized as received. Both interest and dividends are recognized in “Investment income and interest expense” on the Company’s Consolidated Statements of Income. The Company recognized investment income of $1.6 million, $536 thousand and $4.1 million which included an unrealized loss in equity securities of $900 thousand, an unrealized loss in equity securities of $1.8 million and an unrealized gain in equity securities of $2.0 million in the fiscal years ended December 25, 2021, December 26, 2020 and December 28, 2019, respectively.

Marketable securities, as of December 25, 2021 and December 26, 2020, consisted of:

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Note 2    Marketable Securities (continued)

Maturities of marketable securities classified as available-for-sale at December 25, 2021, were as follows:

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SERP Investments

The Company also maintains a non-qualified supplemental executive retirement plan for certain of its associates which allows them to defer income to future periods. Participants in the plans earn a return on their deferrals based on mutual fund investments. The Company chooses to invest in the underlying mutual fund investments to offset the liability associated with the non-qualified deferred compensation plans. Such investments are reported on the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets as “SERP investment,” are classified as trading securities and are measured at fair value using Level 1 inputs with gains and losses included in “Investment income and interest expense” on the Company’s Consolidated Statements of Income. The Company recognized investment income of $3.4 million, $3.3 million, and $3.0 million in fiscal years ended December 25, 2021, December 26, 2020, and December 28, 2019. The changes in the underlying liability to the associates are recorded in “Other income (expense).”