Bobbi L. Coffey

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.

Founded by Louis Miscioscia, Brigantine Advisors is an independent equity research firm located in New York City. The firm seeks to provide timely analysis of market trends by identifying major technology shifts. Within the macro environment, they seek to identify profitable investment opportunities with a focus on both the financial and technical capabilities of the companies they analyze. Brigantine Advisors follows the technology, healthcare, information technology services, business services, supply chain, enterprise infrastructure, Internet/entertainment and semiconductors sectors. Within the enterprise infrastructure sector, they focus on storage and managed services, hardware/EMS and communications industries. Within the semiconductors sector, the firm focuses on the analog, solar and communications IC industries. In the area of the Internet and entertainment, most of their research is on the digital media industry and within the healthcare sector, they tend to focus on medical devices.

Founded in 1995, Kaufman Bros. LP is a broker/dealer headquartered in New York City with an additional office in San Francisco. The firm is a member of the NASD, the SIPC and FINRA. Kaufman Bros. provides investment banking, equity research and institutional sales and trading. The firm provides fundamental research on the following sectors: (1) cable, satellite and interactive media (2) communications equipment (3) digital media software (4) green technology (5) information technology hardware and storage (6) information technology services and software (7) semiconductors and (8) telecommunications & data services.

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.

iVillage, Inc. operates as an online information network for women. The company was founded by Robert H. Levitan and Candice Carpenter Olson and is headquartered in Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

Banc of America Specialist, Inc. is an SEC-registered broker/dealer located in New York City. The firm is a subsidiary of NB Holdings Corp. Their ultimate parent is Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC). Banc of America Specialist provides securities services on the New York Stock Exchange and assists with IPOs. The firm follows S&P 500 companies in several sectors including financial services, energy, consumer products, retail and telecommunications. Banc of America Specialist was originally founded in 1982 as Quick & Reilly Specialist, ultimately incorporating Conklin, Cahill & Co. and Colin Hockstin & Co. From 1990 until 1995, the firm acquired three prestigious specialist firms: Murphy, Marseilles Smith & Nammack, Stokes Hoyt & Co and Pforzheimer/Drexel Burnham Specialists. In 1995, Quick & Reilly Specialist was renamed JJC Specialist. In 1998, JJC Specialist was purchased by Fleet Boston Financial, which also acquired Merrill Lynch Specialist, and the firm was renamed Fleet Specialist. In 2000, FleetBoston Financial acquired MJ Meehan and merged the operations into Fleet Specialist. In 2004, Bank of America acquired FleetBoston Financial and Fleet Specialist became known as Banc of America Specialist, Inc.

Deutsche Bank Investment Management, Inc. is an investment advisor headquartered in New York City. The firm is a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB).

Part of Raymond James Financial, Inc., Alex Brown, Inc. is a diversified financial services company based in Baltimore, MD. The company offers financial planning, wealth management, investment banking, asset management, and capital markets services.