Karl L. Polen

The Vanguard Group, Inc. (VGI) is an independent, SEC-registered investment advisor and mutual fund manager headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania. The firm was founded in 1975 by John Bogle. In 1976, they introduced the first indexed mutual fund, the First Index Investment Trust (now known as the Vanguard 500 Index Fund), to individual investors. VGI provides investment advisory services to Vanguard family of funds and Vanguard's non-US clients, which are comprised of funds established as trusts under the laws of the Province of Ontario in Canada and separate account clients of Vanguard's international subsidiaries.

Arthur Andersen LLP used to provide accounting services. It was also into consulting services for clients that operate businesses throughout the United States and around the world. Arthur Andersen was founded in 1913 and was headquartered in Chicago, IL.

Najafi Cos. LLC (Najafi) is a private equity firm founded in 2000 by Jahm Najafi. The firm is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.

Digi-Key Corp. distributes electronic components. It also distributes semiconductors, discrete, electromechanical parts. Its products include audio products, batteries, cable assemblies, capacitors, computer & video accessories, connectors, crystals & oscillators, discrete semiconductor products and many more. The company was founded by Ronald A. Stordahl in 1972 and is headquartered in Thief River Falls, MN.

Protective Life Corp. (Investment Portfolio) (Protective-IP) is the investment portfolio division of Protective Life Corp., an insurance management firm headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. The firm is owned by Protective Life Corp., which is a subsidiary of Dai-ichi Life Holdings, Inc. (TYO: 8750) in Japan. Protective Life offers a broad range of life, asset protection, and retirement products to a diverse range of clients. Protective-IP manages the investment portfolio of insurance clients.

The Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. (APFC) is a State-owned pension fund management firm headquartered in Juneau, Alaska. The firm was founded in 1980 to manage and invest the assets of the Alaska Permanent Fund, a sovereign wealth fund established in 1976 by Alaskans to preserve and convert the State’s non-renewable oil and mineral wealth into a renewable financial resource for all generations of Alaskans. APFC also manages the assets of other funds designated by law, such as the Alaska Mental Health Trust Fund.

Tenaya Capital Inc (Tenaya Capital) is a venture capital firm founded in 1995 by Brian Melton, Stewart Gollmer, Ben Boyer and Brian Paul. The firm is headquartered in Palo Alto, California.

Global Capacity Group, Inc. operates as a telecommunications virtual network operator. Its products include business Internet, Ethernet services & access, wavelengths, wide area networking and interconnect. The firm's solutions include cloud connectivity, application delivery, branch office connectivity, carrier off-net access, retail and healthcare networking solutions. The company was founded by Patrick C. Shutt in 2006 and is headquartered in Waltham, MA.

Gradient Analytics LLC (Gradient) is an independent equity research firm headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. It was founded by Carr Bettis and Donn Vickrey in 1996 and formerly known as Camelback Research Alliance. The firm is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sabrient Systems LLC, which acquired the firm in August 2011. Gradient has particular expertise in financial analysis, forensic accounting and executive behavior. They publishes academically rigorous, unbiased, objective insights into the financial performance and equity valuation of liquid publicly traded companies globally for mutual fund managers, hedge fund managers, and other professional money managers.