Joanne A. Smith

DWS Investment Management Americas, Inc. (DIMA) is a SEC-registered investment advisor headquartered in New York City. The firm is a subsidiary of DWS USA Corp., ultimately held by Deutsche Bank AG (ETR: DBK) in Germany. The firm was founded in 1984 and formerly known as Deutsche Investment Management Americas Inc. In 2018, they changed their name into DWS as part of the rebranding of Deutsche Asset Management. DIMA provides discretionary and non-discretionary investment advisory services to various institutional clients. They also provide investment advisory services for its municipal bond strategies through wrap fee programs.

A subsidiary of Mesirow Financial Holdings, Inc., Mesirow Financial, Inc. is a broker/dealer headquartered in Chicago with an additional office in New York City. The firm provides a full array of trading and execution services for their clients. They do not provide any internal research. Mesirow was founded in 1937 by Norman Mesirow.

Credit Suisse First Boston LLC provides global investment banking services in the United States. It provides private banking and financial advisory services and banking products. Its businesses include securities underwriting, sales & trading, investment banking, private equity, alternative assets, financial advisory services, investment research and asset management. It is headquartered in New York, NY.

Scotia Capital (USA), Inc. (SCUSA) is a SEC-registered broker/dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm is a subsidiary of Scotia Holdings (USA) LLC, which is owned by The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE: BNS; TSE: BNS) in Canada. They provide debt research coverage on US investment grade and high yield debt markets. SCUSA focuses on 6 industries which includes automotive, financial services, healthcare, media and communications, REGAL - real estate/gaming and leisure and technology. They also focus on 4 main global sectors such as power, mining, infrastructure and oil & gas/energy.

Fox-Pitt, Kelton Securities, a subsidiary of Fox-Pitt, Kelton Ltd., is a broker/dealer headquartered in New York City with additional offices in Boston and Hartford, Connecticut. Founded in 1971, the firm offers a full array of investment services, specializing specifically in the global financial services industry focusing on the insurance, banking and related sectors. Their fundamental, company-specific research is supported by a rigorous approach to valuation. They are a member of the NASD.

UBS Investment Bank provides investment banking and securities brokerage services. Its clients include institutional and corporate clients, intermediaries, governments, and hedge funds. The firm also provides merger and acquisition advisory, private placement, investment research, foreign exchange, equity, and leverage finance advisory services. The firm is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.