Alan H. Straus

Lord Abbett & Co. LLC (Lord Abbett) is an independent, SEC-registered investment advisor and mutual fund manager headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey. Founded in 1929, Lord Abbett provides advisory services to a variety of institutional clients, the Lord Abbett Funds and other registered investment companies sponsored by third parties, the Lord Abbett UCITS Funds, the Lord Abbett Luxembourg Fund, other foreign funds, privately offered commingled funds and various separately managed accounts.

In 1915 Charles Edward Merrill founded Merrill Lynch & Co. (NYSE: MER) with Edmund C. Lynch in Baltimore, Maryland. The modern Merrill Lynch was formed in 1940 through mergers with E.A. Pierce & Cassatt and, soon after, Fenner & Beane. In 1973, Merrill Lynch adopted a holding company format, with Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. as the parent and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith as the operating subsidiary. Merrill Lynch Asset Management, Inc. (MLAM) was created as an integral business unit in the Merrill Lynch family in 1976. Fund Asset Management, doing business as Mercury Asset Management, was acquired in December 1997. In 2000, MLAM and Mercury were combined under the name Merrill Lynch Investment Managers. MLAM manages the Merrill Lynch family of mutual funds, as and acts as sub-advisor to other mutual funds.

Founded in 1864, J. & W. Seligman & Co., Inc. manages the Seligman family of mutual funds, the Tri-Continental fund and offshore funds, as well as separate institutional and individual portfolios. Based in New York City, the firm offers separate growth, value, and theme-oriented investment approaches for its US portfolios.

Part of Marsh & McLennan Cos., Inc., Evaluation Associates LLC is a company that provides financial consulting services. The company is based in Norwalk, CT. The CEO of the company is Steven C. Case. Evaluation Associates was acquired by Mercer Investment Consulting LLC from Milliman, Inc. on June 30, 2011.

Ahab Capital Management, Inc. (Ahab) is an independent hedge fund manager headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1994, Ahab provides investment advice to high net worth clients.

Omega Advisors, Inc. is an independent family office headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded by Leon G. Cooperman in 1991 as a hedge fund firm and converted into a family office in 2018.

Center Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Union Center National Bank, which offers lending, depository and related financial services to commercial, industrial and governmental customers. The banks lending services include short and medium term loans, lines of credit, letters of credit, working capital loans, real estate construction loans and mortgage loans. Its depository services include demand deposits, savings accounts and time deposits. The bank also offers collection services, wire transfers, night depository and lock box services. Center Bancorp was founded on November 12, 1982 and is headquartered in Union, NJ.

Union Center National Bank provided banking services. The company was headquartered in Union, NJ.

Schroder Investment Management North America, Inc. (SIMNA) is a SEC-registered investment advisor headquartered in New York City. The firm is a subsidiary of Schroder US Holdings, Inc., ultimately held by Schroders Plc (LON: SDR) in Great Britain. SIMNA manages separate accounts on a discretionary basis for institutions, endowments, foundations, pension funds, government retirement plans, and insurance companies and, as sub-adviser, to registered investment companies sponsored by other advisers. The firm also acts as the investment adviser to the Schroder Funds, which are sold in the US predominantly to institutional clients. They also serve as the manager and general partner of private investment partnerships or funds.