Dave Frizzie

PPM America, Inc. (PPM) is a SEC-registered investment advisor headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The firm was founded in 1990 and is a subsidiary of PPM Holdings, Inc., ultimately held by Jackson Financial, Inc. (JFI) (NYSE: JXN). PPM is the primary investment manager for the general account assets of JFI’s insurance subsidiaries and serves as sub-adviser to US mutual funds sponsored by Jackson National Asset Management LLC (JNAM), a subsidiary of Jackson National Life Insurance Co. (Jackson), and adviser to the PPM Funds, a family of institutional share class mutual funds. Additionally, PPM provides advisory services to non-US pooled investment vehicles, structured vehicles such as collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), private equity funds, and separately managed accounts for third-party institutional clients.

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.