Gabriel Burstein

Lipper, Inc. provides mutual and hedge fund information, analytical tools, and data. It also provides services to asset managers, fund companies, financial intermediaries, traditional media, websites, and individual investors. The company was founded by Michael Lipper in 1973 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. provided wealth management, securities trading and sales, corporate finance and investment banking services. Merrill Lynch was a global trader and underwriter of securities and derivatives across a range of asset classes and serve as a strategic advisor to governments, institutions and individuals worldwide. The company was founded in 1913 and was headquartered in Charlotte, NC.

Founded in 2002, Curian Capital LLC is a registered investment advisor located in Denver, Colorado. The firm is a subsidiary of Jackson National Life Insurance Co. and their ultimate parent is UK-based Prudential Plc (LSE: PRU).

Founded in 1969, HSBC Securities (U.S.A.) Inc. is an SEC-registered brokerage firm and registered futures commission merchant located in New York City. The firm is a wholly-owned subsidiary of HSBC North America Holdings, Inc. and their ultimate parent is HSBC Holdings Plc. (NYSE: HBC). HSBC Securities (U.S.A.) is a member of FINRA, the NYSE and the SIPC. Their securities and annuity products are provided by registered representatives and insurance agents of HSBC Securities (U.S.A.). In California, HSBC Securities (U.S.A.) conducts insurance business as HSBC Securities Insurance Services. Insurance products are offered through insurance agents of HSBC Insurance Agency (U.S.A.) Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of HSBC Bank U.S.A. NA and an indirectly wholly-owned subsidiary of HSBC Holdings plc. The company also engages in investment banking underwriting, dealing and brokering of debt and equity securities and futures contracts and is a primary dealer in U.S. Government and federal agency securities.

Daiwa Capital Markets America, Inc. (DCMA), formerly Daiwa Securities America, Inc., is an SEC-registered broker/dealer headquartered in New York City and was founded in 1964. The firm is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Daiwa Capital Markets America Holdings, Inc., itself a wholly-owned subsidiary of Daiwa Securities Capital Markets Co. Ltd., which is a subsidiary of Daiwa Securities Group, Inc. (TK: 8601), a Tokyo-based investment bank and broker/dealer. DCMA provides high quality investment data, analysis and research products to major U.S. institutional investors.