George N. Thompson

Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC (Credit Suisse Securities USA) is the broker/dealer division of Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, an investment banking company headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1998 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Credit Suisse (USA), Inc., ultimately owned by Credit Suisse Group AG (SWX: CSGN) in Switzerland. Credit Suisse Securities USA offers a suite of equities, solutions and credit products and services which includes global securities sales, trading and execution, prime brokerage and comprehensive investment research. Their clients include financial institutions, corporations, governments, institutional investors, such as pension funds and hedge funds, and private individuals around the world.

Cowen & Co. LLC is a SEC-registered broker/dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 2004 and is a subsidiary of Cowen Holdings, Inc., ultimately owned by The Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSE: TD) in Canada. Cowen & Co. offers industry-focused investment banking for growth-oriented companies, domain knowledge-driven research and a sales and trading platform for institutional investors. Their institutional sales and trading business serves both equity and fixed-income clients. Sales and trading execution platform is structured around the following key verticals: (1) healthcare (2) technology, telecommunications and media (TMT) (3) REITs and financials (4) aerospace and defense (5) consumer and (6) alternative energy.

Hartford Investment Management Co. (HIMCO) is a SEC-registered investment advisor headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut. The firm was founded in 1996 by acquiring the business, personnel and corporate name of an affiliate which had been in operation since 1981 and which performed substantially similar services They are a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: HIG). HIMCO provides investment advisory services primarily to institutional clients and registered and unregistered investment companies. The firm also serves as an investment adviser for its affiliates and provides investment advisory services for vehicles that support the product mix of its affiliates.

Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc. (DBSI) is a SEC-registered broker/dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1971 and is a wholly-owned investment banking and brokerage arm of DB U.S. Financial Markets Holding Corp., ultimately held by Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB, FRA: DBK) in Germany. DBSI provides securities brokerage and investment advisory services to domestic and international private clients and institutions. They are also a primary dealer in US government securities as designated by the Federal Reserve.

UBS Securities LLC is an investment bank and registered broker/dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1998 as UBS Warburg LLC. They are a subsidiary of UBS Americas Holding LLC, ultimately held by UBS Group AG (SWX: UBSG, NYSE: UBS) in Switzerland. UBS Securities is a primary dealer in US Government securities and provides a full range of investment banking services which includes corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, trading and sales, fixed-income, equity research, private banking, underwriting and prime brokerage operations. The firm also provides advisory services and access to capital markets for corporate, institutional, intermediary and alternative asset management clients.

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc. (KBW) is a full-service investment bank and broker/dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1962 and is a subsidiary of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE: SF). KBW offers sales and trading in equities securities of financial services companies.

Founded in 1985, NatWest Markets Securities, Inc. is a financial services and brokerage firm headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. The firm is a subsidiary of RBS Holdings USA, Inc. and their ultimate parent is the Royal Bank of Scotland Plc (LSE: RBS). The firm was formerly known as RBS Securities, Inc., RBS Greenwich Capital, and Greenwich Capital Markets, Inc. NatWest is an institutional fixed-income firm that provides a full range of debt capital markets services to both those seeking to raise capital and those seeking to invest it. The firm is an industry leader in the U.S. Treasury, agency and MBS markets and in providing real estate and asset-backed financing to their clients. NatWest also provides futures brokerage services and trade strategies to select clients.

Jefferies LLC is a global investment bank and institutional securities firm headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1962 and is a subsidiary of Jefferies Group LLC, ultimately held by Jefferies Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: JEF). Jefferies provides corporate clients with research and execution services in equity, fixed income, and foreign exchange markets, as well as a full range of investment banking services such as underwriting, mergers and acquisitions, restructuring and recapitalization, and other advisory services, with all businesses operating in the Americas, Europe and Asia.

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC is a registered broker-dealer subsidiary of Morgan Stanley Domestic Holdings, Inc., ultimately owned by Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) in the US. Headquartered in New York City, the firm was founded in 1987 and provides debt and equity services including underwriting, M&A advice, securities dealing and brokerage and trade execution. Their client base ranges from large global institutional investors to hedge funds at the cutting edge of innovation in the industry.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC (GS&Co.) is a securities brokerage firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1927, the firm is a subsidiary of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS). GS&Co. provides services to help hedge funds manage risk, monitor portfolios, maintain liquidity and build their businesses. They offer clients access to global equity and derivatives markets, as well as foreign exchange, commodities, European Lefts, rates and credit across the Americas, Europe and Asia. The firm proactively monitors capital markets, searching for pockets of liquidity and news that may require changes to those strategies. Integration with the Goldman Sachs network gives clients access to the firm's sectored block trades and their insights into price discovery. Their electronic trading program provides clients with tools to manage their trades from pre-trade analytics to post-trade analysis.

Moody's Investors Service, Inc. is a credit rating and investment research firm headquartered in New York City. They are a subsidiary of Moody's Corp. (NYSE: MCO). The firm performs international financial research and analysis on commercial and government entities and provides a variety of analytic tools for assessing credit risk. Their clients include creditors, investment banks and commercial banks.

Founded in 1990, Dowling & Partners is an SEC-registered, institutional broker/dealer headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut. The firm focuses on the U.S. reinsurance industry including property and casualty insurance, life insurance and health insurance. They offer a full array of investment services. Dowling & Partners' research is weighted toward larger, publicly-traded insurers, reinsurers and intermediaries. The firm places emphasis on balance sheet strength and areas of sustained competitive advantage and makes extensive use of the statutory books filed with state insurance departments. Dowling & Partners is a member of FINRA. Their transactions are introduced and cleared through Pershing LLC.

IHS Herold, Inc. is an investment research firm headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut. The firm was founded in 1948 and is a subsidiary of IHS Markit, Inc., which is owned by S&P Global, Inc. (NYSE: SPGI). IHS Herold typically offers research, advisory and strategic planning advice on company evaluations, company strategies and associated company and industry transactions for energy-related domestic and foreign equity securities.

Cornell University is an educational institution that offers undergraduate and post graduate programs. It was founded in 1865 and is based in Ithaca, NY.

Peking University provides post-secondary education services. It offers undergraduate and graduate courses. It provides courses such as basic and applied sciences, social sciences and the humanities, sciences of medicine, management, and education. The company was founded by JiaNai Sun in 1898 and is headquartered in Beijing, China.

BTS Asset Management, Inc. (BTS) is a privately-held, SEC-registered investment advisor headquartered in Lexington, Massachusetts. The firm was founded in 1979 by Vilis Pasts. BTS provides portfolio management services directly to individuals, high net worth individuals, corporate pension and profit-sharing plans, Taft-Hartley plans, foundations, endowments, registered investment companies and trust portfolios.

RBC Capital Markets LLC is a full-service brokerage and financial services firm headquartered in New York City. They are a direct subsidiary of RBC USA Holdco Corp. and a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada (TSE, NYSE: RY). Founded in 2010, the firm is comprised of 3 major business lines: the Private Client Group, the Fixed-Income Group and the Clearing and Execution Services Group. The Private Client Group serves individual investors, while the Fixed-Income Group provides services to institutions, municipalities and non-profit organizations. The Clearing and Execution Services Group is a provider of clearing and execution services to independent brokers/dealers throughout the US. RBC Capital Markets focuses on the following sectors: communications, media, consumer/retail, diversified industries, energy, financial institutions, forest products, healthcare, infrastructure finance, mining & metals, real estate, social infrastructure, technology and the US municipal markets.

Founded in 2007, BNY Mellon Capital Markets, Inc. is broker/dealer headquartered in New York City. They are a subsidiary of Bank of New York Mellon Corp. The firm provides a full array of trading and execution services for their clients. They do not provide any internal research.

Alterna Capital Partners LLC (Alterna Capital Partners) is a private equity firm founded in 2007 by Eric Press and Roger Miller. The firm is headquartered in Wilton, United States.

Part of Minor International Public Co., Ltd., Patara Fine Thai Cuisine Ltd. is a British company that operates restaurants. The company is based in Leigh-on-Sea, UK. Patara Fine Thai Cuisine was founded in 2006.

Part of Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc., Lehman Brothers (Thailand) Ltd. is a company that provides securities underwriting and other investment activities. The company is based in Bangkok, Thailand.

Part of Minor International Public Co., Ltd., Minor Food Holding Co., Ltd. provides investment services.