James B. Withers

D. A. Davidson & Co. is a dually SEC-registered investment adviser and FINRA broker-dealer headquartered in Great Falls, Montana. The firm was founded in 1935 and is a subsidiary of D.A. Davidson Companies, a financial service holding company. They provide liquidity and execution in small & mid-cap stocks to a wide range of institutional investors, including mutual fund and money managers around the world.

Wedbush Securities, Inc. is a full-service investment bank and brokerage firm headquartered in Los Angeles, California. The firm was founded in 1955 as Wedbush Morgan Securities, Inc. They are a subsidiary of Wedbush Financial Services LLC, which is owned by Wedbush, Inc. Wedbush Securities provides a wide range of securities brokerage, wealth management, and investment banking services to private and institutional clients. Their research focuses on providing coverage of small and mid-sized companies in the following industries: (1) consumer products and services (2) technology (3) entertainment and media (4) life sciences and (5) industrial growth and clean technology.

Salient Partners LP (Salient) is an asset management boutique headquartered in Houston, Texas. The firm was founded in 2002 by Andrew Linbeck, Jeremy Radcliffe and Haag Sherman. In 2003, the firm merged with Pinnacle Management & Trust Co. to form Salient Partners & Pinnacle Trust Co. Two years later the firm adopted the name Salient Partners LP. In 2022, they were acquired by Westwood Holdings Group, Inc. (NYSE: WHG). Salient provides real assets, tactical equity alternatives, and private solutions for institutional investors and investment advisors.

Crosslink Capital, Inc. (Crosslink) is an independent, SEC-registered investment advisor and hedge fund manager headquartered in Menlo Park, California. The firm was founded in 1999 as Omega Venture Partners, Inc. Crosslink provides investment advisory services to investment funds.

Salient Capital Management LLC provides asset and wealth management services. It offers services to high net worth and affluent individuals and smaller institutions including financial and estate planning, trusts and custody services. The company was founded on May 28, 2003 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.

Endowment PMF Master Fund LP operates as a closed-end mutual fund. The company was founded on March 31, 2014 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.

Salient Private Access Registered Fund LP is a closed-end investment fund or investment trust, which engages in investing substantially its capital into Salient Private Access Master Fund. The Registered Fund’s investment objective is to preserve capital and to generate consistent long-term appreciation and returns across a market cycle. The company was founded on March 10, 2004 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.

Valedor Partners LLC (Valedor Partners) is a private equity/venture capital firm founded in 2018 by Collins Kuper and Jeremy Lawrence Radcliffe. The firm is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Balyasny Asset Management LP (BAM) is a multi-strategy hedge fund manager and SEC-registered investment advisor headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The firm’s predecessor, Balyasny Capital Management LLC (BCM), was founded in 2001 by Dmitry Balyasny, Scott Schroeder and Taylor O'Malley. In 2003, BCM converted from a limited liability company to a limited partnership. Then, in January 2004, their name was changed to Balyasny Asset Management LP. They are a subsidiary of Balyasny Asset Management Holdings LP. BAM provides investment advisory services to high net-worth individuals and institutional clients through privately offered pooled investment funds.

Proteus Capital Corp. is an RIA and alternatives/private funds platform that provides high net worth investors and their financial advisors with sophisticated access to alternative investment opportunities and education. The private company is based in New York, NY and was founded by Douglas J. Newby. The company's fully integrated platform enables independent RIAs, regional IBDS, private banks, accredited investors, and qualified purchasers to sort and search managers and investments, review due diligence materials, model, backtest, and construct portfolios all in one place, eliminating the hurdles and inefficiencies that have traditionally plagued alternative investing.

Jefferies LLC is a global investment bank and institutional securities firm headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1962 and is a subsidiary of Jefferies Group LLC, ultimately held by Jefferies Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: JEF). Jefferies provides corporate clients with research and execution services in equity, fixed income, and foreign exchange markets, as well as a full range of investment banking services such as underwriting, mergers and acquisitions, restructuring and recapitalization, and other advisory services, with all businesses operating in the Americas, Europe and Asia.

Endowment Advisers LP (dba Cypress Creek Partners) is a registered investment advisor and hedge fund manager headquartered in Houston, Texas. The firm was founded in 2004 and was acquired by CCP Operating LLC in 2021. Cypress Creek Partners provides investment advisory services to private funds and registered investment companies.

Founded in 1939, Pershing LLC is a broker/dealer headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey. The firm is a subsidiary of the Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE: BK). The firm helps financial services firms and advisors succeed by providing the technology, operational, trading, investment and practice management solutions they need to serve investors. Pershing offers securities processing, trading and operations management, investment technology, asset-gathering solutions and practice management support. The firm serves a wide range of financial organizations including: banks, discount brokerages, full-service brokerages, registered investment advisors, independent contractors, institutional firms, global firms and small- to mid-sized firms. Pershing also offers financial products including annuities, mutual funds and money funds, as well as business tools, cash management services, investor and lending services, retirement products and wealth management. In addition, they offer trading and execution services in listed and OTC securities, fixed-income securities and mutual funds.

Sanders Morris Harris LLC (Investment Management) (SMH-IM) is the investment management division of Sanders Morris Harris LLC, a registered broker/dealer firm headquartered in Houston, Texas. The firm was founded in 2000 and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tectonic Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: TECTP). SMH-IM provides advisory services to individuals, pooled investments, plan sponsors, trusts, estates, corporations, institutions, and other businesses.

Duke University is an academic university that offers undergraduate, graduate and professional programs. It also has publications and research services. The university was founded in 1838 and is headquartered in Durham, NC.

Salient Advisors LP is an independent, SEC-registered investment advisor headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The firm was founded in 2020 and provides investment advisory services to Investment Funds, which includes the Westwood Broadmark Tactical Plus Fund.

Founded in 1992, Sunrise Securities Corp. is an investment bank and brokerage firm headquartered in New York City. The firm specializes in debt and equity financings. They provide a full range of investment banking and corporate financial advisory services for small- to mid-size public and privately-held companies. Sunrise Securities' research efforts focus on a variety of traditional industries and emerging growth sectors including: biotechnology, energy, financial services, information technology, manufacturing, medical devices, metals, natural resources, paper/packaging, pharmaceuticals, precious metals/mining, services, shipping, software, telecommunications and transportation. The Sunrise Sales and Trading team works with a broad group of investors and maintains portfolio-manager level relationships with some of the largest institutional investors in the world including: mutual funds, hedge funds, pension funds, insurance companies, banks and prop desks. Their investors are active in both the primary and secondary markets for debt and equity. Sunrise offers a suite of electronic trading solutions and execution tools including: (1) algorithmic trading including VWAP, Pairs Trading, etc. (2) list trading (3) basket trading (4) block placement and (5) trading of 144 and 144A securities.

Founded in 1986, Merriman Capital, Inc. is an SEC-registered broker/dealer and investment banking firm headquartered in San Francisco. The firm is a subsidiary of Merriman Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: MERR), a financial services firm that focuses on fast-growing companies and their institutional investors. Merriman provides advisory and investment banking, equity research, institutional services, corporate services and venture services primarily to corporate clients. Merriman Capital provides research, brokerage and trading services primarily to institutional clients. The firm offers a full range of specialized and integrated services including: equity research, specialized trade execution, equity capital markets, corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, sales and trading, market making, corporate and venture services, restructurings and strategic advisory services. Merriman Capital employs bottom-up, fundamental analysis of small-cap companies in select industries including clean technology, healthcare, technology and consumer/Internet/media. The firm also has expertise in emerging markets, with emphasis on emerging markets in China. Merriman Capital is known to engage in shareholder activist investment strategies. Merriman Capital is a member of the NASD, the SIPC and FINRA. The firm serves as an introducing broker/dealer for Pershing LLC. They do not hold or maintain funds or securities or provide clearing services for other broker/dealers.

Salient Capital Advisors LLC (Salient) is an asset management firm headquartered in Houston, Texas. The firm was founded when their direct parent, Salient Partners LP acquired RDG Capital LLC in December 2010. Salient provides real assets, tactical equity alternatives, and private solutions for institutional investors and investment advisors.

Macy's West, Inc. owns and operates departmental stores. The company offers shirts, trousers, shoes, and blazers. It operates a chain of departmental stores in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Guam. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of R.H. Macy & Co. Macy's West was founded in 1945 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.

University of Southern California is a private research university that mainly offers undergraduate, graduate & other higher education. The university was founded in 1880 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, CA.

The Endowment Institutional Tei Fund W LP is a mutual fund closed-end investment trust. It engages in preserving capital and generating long-term appreciation and returns in the market cycle. The company is headquartered in Houston, TX.

Part of U.S. Capital Advisors LLC, USCA Securities LLC is a financial services boutique based in Houston, TX. USCA Securities offers securities, investment advisory, and municipal advisory services through its subsidiaries. The primary business lines of the company are wealth management and capital markets. The company has a team of wealth management advisors and advisor teams in Houston, Austin, and Dallas, and also offers institutional sales and trading, investment banking, merchant banking, public finance, and asset management services. The company was founded in 1999 by Patrick Michael Mendenhall, who has been the CEO since then.