Gregory L. Fontana

After a buy-out of Four Pillars Capital, Inc. from their parent company, MFS Investment Management, Akasha Capital Management LP is now an independent hedge fund manager located in Boston.

Essex Investment Management Co. LLC (Essex) is an independent registered investment advisor headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm was founded by Michael Hazard and Joseph McNay in 1976. Essex provides investment management services on a discretionary basis to institutional clients, such as employee benefits plans, endowment funds, foundations, religious organizations, and mutual funds. The firm also provides investment management services to individuals (private clients), limited partnerships and limited liability companies.

Boston-based John Hancock Advisers, Inc. (JHA) is the mutual fund affiliate of John Hancock Financial Services, Inc. and manages the John Hancock family of retail and institutional mutual funds, as well as separate equity portfolios for private accounts and retirement plans for individual and institutional investors. In 2003, Manulife Financial Corp. (TSX, NYSE: MFC) and John Hancock Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE: JHF) announced that they would merge and would thus create a leading global insurance franchise. The combined company will market products and services under multiple brands including John Hancock in the US and Manulife in Canada and the US.

Loomis, Sayles & Co. LP (Loomis Sayles) is a SEC-registered investment adviser headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm was founded by Robert H. Loomis and Ralph T. Sayles in 1926. They are a direct subsidiary of Natixis Investment Managers LLC, ultimately owned by BPCE SA in France. Loomis Sayles provides investment advisory or sub advisory services to institutional clients through separate account management services. In addition, the firm provides investment advisory or sub-advised services to various investment funds.

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.

Merrill Lynch Private Client Group is a subsidiary of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK). The firm is headquartered in Pennington, New Jersey.