David Joseph Cross

Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Banc of America Securities (BAS) is the investment banking subsidiary of Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC). The firm provides both the domestic and international equity and investment banking markets, and pursues a strategy pioneered by Citigroup that combines corporate lending with investment banking advice and services. They provide high-yield debt underwriting and leveraged finance, in addition to industry coverage groups such as healthcare, media and telecom, financial institutions, real estate and gaming. BAS also does a significant amount of work for Financial Sponsors, or private equity firms, often financing leveraged transactions. Following the strategy of Goldman Sachs, the firm lacks a standalone mergers and acquisitions department, instead employing mergers and acquisitions senior bankers throughout the industry coverage groups. The firm is registered as a broker/dealer with the SEC, is a member of the NYSE, and the NASD. The use of Banc in the BAS's name is indicative of the fact that the company is not a bank, and their deposits and other holdings are not insured by the FDIC.

Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. (MLPFS) is the SEC-registered broker/dealer subsidiary of Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., ultimately held by Charlotte-based Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC). The firm was founded in 1958 and is headquartered in New York City. In 2010, Banc of America Securities LLC merged with MLPFS and the firm uses the trade name Bank of America Merrill Lynch. MLPFS's global strategy and economics team serves institutional and individual investors using a wide range of macroeconomic disciplines. Their analysis of global issues provides clients with investment ideas, market forecasts, macro overviews and specific sector recommendations across asset classes, regions and disciplines. Their equity research team conducts fundamental analysis on companies globally and provides institutional and retail clients with industry-specific and in-depth research and analysis on numerous industries. The firm's global fixed-income and equity-linked research focuses on fixed-income and equity derivatives, fixed-income strategy, convertibles, commodities, high-yield, mortgages, municipals and global foreign exchange.

Neuberger Berman BD LLC is a SEC-registered investment advisor and mutual fund manager headquartered in New York City. It is directly owned by Neuberger Berman Investment Advisers LLC, which is an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Neuberger Berman Group LLC, which is owned by NBSH Acquisition LLC. The firm traces their origin back to the 1939 founding of Neuberger & Berman, its predecessor firm. In 1950, Neuberger Berman became one of the first firms to offer a no-load mutual fund to individual investors. Neuberger Berman BD manages a range of equity, fixed income, private equity and hedge fund strategies on behalf of institutions, advisors and individual investors worldwide.

EMC Corp. develops, delivers and supports information infrastructure and virtual infrastructure technologies, solutions and services. It enables businesses and service providers to transform their operations and deliver information technology as a service. The company was founded by Richard J. Egan, John Curly and Roger M. Marino on August 23, 1979 and is headquartered in Hopkinton, MA.

American Century Investment Management, Inc. (ACIM) is a SEC-registered investment advisor and mutual fund manager headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. The firm was founded by James E. Stowers, Jr. in 1958 and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of American Century Cos., Inc. ACIM provides portfolio management services to financial advisors, individual investors and institutional clients.