James E. Monro

Standard & Poor's Investment Advisory Services LLC (SPIAS) is investment research firm and registered investment advisor headquartered in New York City. The firm is a wholly-owned subsidiary of S&P Global, Inc. (NYSE: SPGI), formerly McGraw Hill Financial, Inc. SPIAS’ advisory services are generally offered to institutions (e.g., broker-dealers, investment advisers, investment companies and other financial institutions). SPIAS does not generally provide its advisory services directly to retail clients, but its services may be used by its clients in advising their own underlying clients, which may include retail clients. SPIAS also provides advisory consulting services to institutional clients and investment managers-of-investment funds, and investment sub-advisory services for registered investment companies, including open-end mutual funds and other institutions. S&P Global's operations consist of three reportable segments: S&P Global Ratings, S&P Global Platts, and S&P Dow Jones Indices. S&P Global Ratings is an independent provider of credit ratings, research and analytics to investors, issuers and market participants. It includes the NRSRO and certain other ratings-related businesses. S&P Global Platts provides essential price data, analytics, and industry insight that enable commodities markets to perform with greater transparency and efficiency. S&P Dow Jones Indices is a global index provider that maintains a wide variety of indices to meet an array of investor needs. In 2016, CFRA acquired S&P Global Market Intelligence’s Equity and Fund Research business (formerly known as S&P Capital IQ and SNL) from S&P Global, Inc.

Kiwi Wealth Investments LP (Kiwi Wealth) is the pension fund management subsidiary of Kiwi Wealth Management Ltd., itself a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kiwi Group Holdings Ltd. in New Zealand. Headquartered in Wellington, the firm was founded by Gareth Morgan and Andrew Gawith in 2000 as Gareth Morgan Investments LP. They changed their name to Kiwi Wealth Investments LP in 2017. Kiwi Wealth offers investment management services for private and wholesale investors through their KiwiSaver Scheme, Managed Funds, Super Scheme, and Private Portfolio Service.

Argus Research Co. (ARC) is a research firm headquartered in New York City and was founded in 1934. The firm is a subsidiary of Argus Research Group, Inc. ARC produces, distributes and markets investment and economic research.

Founded in 2002 by Hunter Thompson and William Davis, Thompson Davis & Co. (TD & Co.) is an independent investment research firm and broker/dealer located in Richmond, Virginia with an additional office in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The firm is a member of FINRA and the SIPC. TD & Co. provides unbiased, original research and services to institutional and retail investors. They do not perform research on companies for investment banking opportunities. TD & Co. also offers a full-range of financial services ranging from financial planning and private money management to corporate and municipal bonds. TD & Co.'s research team employs a focused methodology. They seek to identified, under followed, undervalued growth companies. The firm uses computer screens that look for companies with sequential revenue and earnings growth and strong balance sheets that are selling at a discount to their growth rates. Specifically, TD& Co. looks for companies with several characteristics: (1) 20% + revenue and earnings growth (2) sequential revenue and earnings growth, i.e., quarter over quarter improvement in both the top and bottom line (3) top management is buying the company's stock in the open market with their own money (4) significant management ownership of the stock (5) strong balance sheets with little or no debt or manageable declining debt, strong cash position or debt reduction efforts (6) operating in a growing market sector (no deep cyclicals or natural resource sectors) (7) gross margin expansion and market share gains and (8) selling at a discount to the company growth rate, allowing for p/e expansion toward growth rate.

HSBC Bank Plc (Broker) (HSBC Bank-Broker) is the broker/dealer division of HSBC Bank Plc, which is owned by HSBC Holdings Plc (LON: HSBA; NYSE: HSBC) in Great Britain. Headquartered in London, HSBC Bank-Broker was founded in 1880 and offers bespoke brokerage services across every major asset class for their corporate and institutional clients.

Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG (United Kingdom) (Berenberg-UK) is the Great Britain-based broker/dealer division of Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG, a multinational full-service investment bank in Germany. Headquartered in London, Berenberg-UK was founded in 2003 and provides trading and brokerage services to institutional and corporate clients.

Commerzbank AG (UK) is the UK brokerage division of Commerzbank AG (FR: CBK) in Germany. Based in London, they engage in equity, debt and derivative instrument trading, investment banking, public finance and treasury, interest-rate and currency management, as well as corporate finance. In 2009 Dresdner Bank was acquired by and merged into Commerzbank and the London-based activities of Dresdner Kleinwort Securities absorbed into Commerzbank AG (UK). The firm provides capital markets services, corporate advisory, risk management, research and lending services focused on equity, corporate and emerging-market debt, derivatives and money market products. Their clients are European and international corporations, institutions and government entities. In terms of corporate finance they offer financial advisory as well as execution capabilities for a wide range of corporate finance-related transactions on a global basis. Their primary focus is on mergers and acquisitions, disposals, equity issues and initial public offerings.

Edison Investment Research Ltd. (Edison) is an investment research, investor relations and consulting firm headquartered in London, UK. The firm was founded by Stephen Rogers and Fraser Thorne in 2003. They are a subsidiary of Edison Global Ltd. Edison provides investment research to international investors, advisors and stakeholders.

RoboCap LLP is an independent investment management firm headquartered in London, UK. The firm was founded by Jonathan Cohen in 2015 and manages RoboCap UCITS Fund for individual and institutional investors.

Moors & Cabot, Inc. (MCI) is a registered broker-dealer headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm was founded by John F. Moors and Charles Cabot in 1890 to handle the personal investments of the two founders and their friends. They became a solely owned subsidiary of Eighteen Ninety Partners LLC in 2022. MCI provides brokerage execution services to their advisory client participating in Portfolio Management Program (PMP).

Part of Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc., Shearson Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc. provides security broker services. The company is based in New York, NY.

The Conference Board, Inc. is a membership organization working for the public interests. It creates and disseminates knowledge about management and the marketplace to help businesses in their performance and to better serve the society. The firm publishes information and analysis, makes economics-based forecasts and assesses trends, and facilitates learning by creating communities of interest that bring together senior executives from around the world. The company was founded in 1916 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

International Rescue Committee, Inc. provides rescue and emergency services. It provides services like emergency relief, rehabilitation, protection of human rights, post-conflict development, resettlement services, and oppression. The company was founded in 1933 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

The Blackstone Group, Inc. provides marketing research services. It provides custom market research services for clients in industries as consumer packaged goods, financial services, healthcare and technology. The firm's clients include eBay, Harris Bank and Pfizer. The company was founded by Ashref A. Hashim in 1987 and is headquartered in Chicago, IL.

Miller Buckfire & Co. LLC operates as an investment bank, which provides corporate finance and strategic advisory services. It focuses on addressing transformational issues of clients such as recapitalizations, acquisitions, sales and divestitures, and debt and equity financing transactions. The company was founded by Kenneth A. Buckfire and Henry S. Miller in 2002 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

Part of Raymond James Financial, Inc., Charles Stanley & Co. Ltd. is a British brokerage company that provides brokerage services. The company is based in London, UK. The company was founded in 1792. Paul Andrew Abberley has been the CEO of the company since 2014.