James Lee

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.

Founded in 2004, Cowen Securities is an investment banking firm and broker/dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm is a subsidiary of the Cowen Group. They were formerly known as Dahlman Rose & Co. Cowen Securities provides value-added research, trading and advisory services to clients in the US and abroad. The firm focuses on growth industries that are the direct beneficiaries of global trade, infrastructure development and urbanization. Their research focuses on various distinct verticals within the global natural resources supply chain including: metals/mining, agriculture, chemicals, oil & gas exploration and production, electric utilities and surface transportation. Cowen Securities follows a variety of companies across geographies, market-caps and strategies. The firm employs a top-down approach that focuses on global themes and macro trends within these sectors. They look for drivers that create opportunities for well-positioned companies.