John R. Benda

Nomura Securities International, Inc. (NSI) is a registered broker/dealer headquartered in New York City and was founded in 1969. The firm is a division of Nomura Holding America, Inc. and their ultimate parent is Nomura Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: NMR, TYO: 8604, AMS: 8604). NSI provides securities brokerage services, as well as asset management, domestic retail, global markets, global investment banking and global merchant banking services. The firm's fixed-income business consists of bond sales and trading, origination and product supply for securitization deals and real estate-focused asset finance operations (in cooperation with Investment Banking). In the equity markets, NSI offers sales and trading of domestic and foreign stocks on a global basis, primarily for institutional investors.

Moody's Investors Service, Inc. is a credit rating and investment research firm headquartered in New York City. They are a subsidiary of Moody's Corp. (NYSE: MCO). The firm performs international financial research and analysis on commercial and government entities and provides a variety of analytic tools for assessing credit risk. Their clients include creditors, investment banks and commercial banks.

Susquehanna International Group LLP engages in the provision of investment and other financial services. It offers institutional brokerage, trading, research, and market making services for equities. The company was founded by Lon Taylor and Gordon Apple in 1987 and is headquartered in Bala Cynwyd, PA.

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC is a FINRA-registered broker-dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1987 and is a subsidiary of Morgan Stanley Capital Management LLC, which is owned by Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS). provides debt and equity services such as underwriting, M&A advice, securities dealing and brokerage and trade execution. Their client base ranges from large global institutional investors to hedge funds.

KeyBanc Capital Markets, Inc. is a registered investment bank and broker/dealer headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. The firm was founded in 1983 and is a subsidiary of KeyCorp. (NYSE: KEY). KeyBanc Capital Markets provides investment banking, commercial lending, treasury management, derivatives, foreign exchange, equity and debt underwriting and trading and syndicated finance products and services to large corporations and middle-market companies.

Guggenheim Securities LLC is a SEC-registered broker-dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1999 and is a subsidiary of Links Holdings LLC, ultimately held by Guggenheim Partners LLC. Guggenheim Securities’ specializations include the sales and trading of fixed-income securities and sophisticated structured products. The firm offers in-depth analysis and expert execution of trading opportunities to large institutional investors and asset originators. They offer sales and trading services relating to a wide range of instruments.

Brean Capital is an independent investment bank and registered broker/dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1973 and provides equity research, corporate finance and advisory investment banking, equity institutional sales and trading, and asset management to institutional investors and corporate clients. Their fixed income business provides sales, trading, research and banking services on a wide range of mortgage and asset-backed, US Treasury and government agency securities, structured products, corporate bonds, and municipal debt. The fixed income sales team employs a highly analytical approach to bond selection, trade execution, and overall bond portfolio management. Under the guidance of fixed income strategists, the fixed income team uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative analyses to create custom investment portfolios and develop targeted, executable bond trading strategies to complement their clients? balance sheets.

Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. (Broker) (CGMI-Broker) is the broker/dealer division of Citigroup Global Markets, Inc., an investment bank headquartered in New York City with additional offices across the US. The firm was founded in 2004 and is a subsidiary of Citigroup Financial Products, Inc., ultimately held by Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C). CGMI-Broker covers all market capitalizations of the major global indices and provides macro and quantitative analysis of global markets and sector trends. Their core focus of the group is to help investing clients make informed decisions by providing value-added, independent, insightful analysis.

UBS Securities LLC is an investment bank and registered broker/dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1998 as UBS Warburg LLC. They are a subsidiary of UBS Americas Holding LLC, ultimately held by UBS Group AG (SWX: UBSG, NYSE: UBS) in Switzerland. UBS Securities is a primary dealer in US Government securities and provides a full range of investment banking services which includes corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, trading and sales, fixed-income, equity research, private banking, underwriting and prime brokerage operations. The firm also provides advisory services and access to capital markets for corporate, institutional, intermediary and alternative asset management clients.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC (GS&Co.) is a securities brokerage firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1927, the firm is a subsidiary of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS). GS&Co. provides services to help hedge funds manage risk, monitor portfolios, maintain liquidity and build their businesses. They offer clients access to global equity and derivatives markets, as well as foreign exchange, commodities, European Lefts, rates and credit across the Americas, Europe and Asia. The firm proactively monitors capital markets, searching for pockets of liquidity and news that may require changes to those strategies. Integration with the Goldman Sachs network gives clients access to the firm's sectored block trades and their insights into price discovery. Their electronic trading program provides clients with tools to manage their trades from pre-trade analytics to post-trade analysis.

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.

Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc. (DBSI) is a SEC-registered broker/dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1971 and is a wholly-owned investment banking and brokerage arm of DB U.S. Financial Markets Holding Corp., ultimately held by Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB, FRA: DBK) in Germany. DBSI provides securities brokerage and investment advisory services to domestic and international private clients and institutions. They are also a primary dealer in US government securities as designated by the Federal Reserve.

BMO Capital Markets Corp. (Broker) is the broker/dealer division of BMO Capital Markets Corp., a full-service North American financial services provider headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1998 and is a subsidiary of BMO Financial Corp., which is owned by Bank of Montreal (NYSE, TSX: BMO) in Canada. BMO Capital Markets offers corporate, institutional and government clients access to a variety of products and services including equity and debt underwriting, corporate lending and project financing, merger and acquisitions advisory services, merchant banking, securitization, treasury and market risk management, debt and equity research and institutional sales and trading.

Fitch Ratings, Inc. is a global rating agency and investment research firm headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded by John Knowles in 1913 as Fitch Publishing Co. They are a subsidiary of Fitch Group, Inc., ultimately owned by The Hearst Family Trust. Fitch Ratings seeks to provide independent and prospective credit opinions, research and data to the world's credit markets. Their approach is based on a foundation of local market experience that covers capital markets in over 150 countries. The firm's ratings analysis and rating decisions are based on established criteria, methodologies and ratings definitions which they apply in a consistent manner. Fitch Ratings provides coverage of the following markets: Economics, Banks, Insurance, Sovereigns, Corporates, Structured Finance, Public Finance – International, Public Finance – US, Infrastructure & Project, and Finance.

Palladium Equity Partners Advisor LLC is a Private Equity firm founded in 1997 by Marcos A. Rodriguez and Robert J. Lanigan. The firm is headquartered in New York.

Washington Analysis LLC is an institutional research firm headquartered in Washington, DC. The firm was founded in 1973 and is a subsidiary of Accounting Research & Analytics LLC, which is owned by MSCI, Inc. (NYSE: MSCI). Washington Analysis focuses on anticipating and analyzing changes in public policy that will impact the financial markets. Their expertise lies in assessing investment risks and opportunities arising from legislative, judicial and regulatory developments across the sectors most impacted by policy developments including financial services and housing, healthcare, energy (including utilities/FERC, oil & gas, pipelines and renewables), defense, tax, trade and TMT (tech, media and telecommunications).

Founded in 2001, Macquarie Capital (USA), Inc. is a registered broker/dealer located in New York City. The firm is a subsidiary of Macquarie Bank Ltd. (ASX: MBL). They provide coverage of the following industries: resources, healthcare, security/defense, transportation, financial services, retail/consumer products, TMET (telecommunications, media, entertainment and technology), oil & gas, diversified manufacturing/distribution and infrastructure/utilities. Macquarie Capital (USA), Inc. is a member of FINRA.

SMC Interactive LLC operates a chain of jewelry stores. The firm’s products include wedding bands, engagement rings, diamond bracelets, necklaces, earrings, men's diamond, sports jewelry and watches. The company was founded by Joe Sherwood and Helene Sherwood in 1948 and is headquartered in Culver City, CA.

Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP provides legal services. Its practice areas include antitrust, bankruptcy and restructuring, corporate governance and investigations, crisis advisory and management, employee benefits, insurance, intellectual property, litigation, media, real estate, tax, and trusts. The company was founded by Joseph P. Cotton, George S. Franklin, William G. McAdoo and Francis McAdoo in 1919 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP provides legal services. Its practice areas include corporate and business, energy and natural resources, gaming, government relations, intellectual property, litigation, pro bono legal and community services, and real estate. The company was founded by Stephen W. Farber in 1968 and is headquartered in Denver, CO.

Global Strategic Solutions LLC provides software solutions and services. It specializes in the design and development of health based support systems and software tools. The firm's services include systems application analysis, performance data generation, predictive model adaptation and testing, system administrator training, solution integration, and product support services. The company was founded by Luis Hernandez in 2005 and is headquartered in Vienna, VA.