Marc DeCuffa

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.

Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. (MLPFS) is the SEC-registered broker/dealer subsidiary of Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., ultimately held by Charlotte-based Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC). The firm was founded in 1958 and is headquartered in New York City. In 2010, Banc of America Securities LLC merged with MLPFS and the firm uses the trade name Bank of America Merrill Lynch. MLPFS's global strategy and economics team serves institutional and individual investors using a wide range of macroeconomic disciplines. Their analysis of global issues provides clients with investment ideas, market forecasts, macro overviews and specific sector recommendations across asset classes, regions and disciplines. Their equity research team conducts fundamental analysis on companies globally and provides institutional and retail clients with industry-specific and in-depth research and analysis on numerous industries. The firm's global fixed-income and equity-linked research focuses on fixed-income and equity derivatives, fixed-income strategy, convertibles, commodities, high-yield, mortgages, municipals and global foreign exchange.