Melissa Louise Otto

American Century Investment Management, Inc. (ACIM) is a SEC-registered investment advisor and mutual fund manager headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. The firm was founded by James E. Stowers, Jr. in 1958 and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of American Century Cos., Inc. ACIM provides portfolio management services to financial advisors, individual investors and institutional clients.

Founded in 1998 by William R. Hambrecht, WR Hambrecht + Co. LLC is a registered broker/dealer headquartered in San Francisco, California. The firm offers a full array of investment services. They provide research that focuses on the (1) Asia-Pacific, biotechnology, business applications and services sectors (2) the China Internet and technology sector (3) consumer (4) enterprise software and Internet (5) gaming technology (6) Internet (7) medical technology (8) nanotechnology (9) networking and data infrastructure (10) semiconductors and devices and (11) specialty pharmaceuticals.

Decision Economics, Inc. provides market research services. It focuses on identifying, monitoring, and forecasting fundamental factors, policies, trends, and risks impacting the economic, business cycle, and the financial markets. The company was founded by Allen L. Sinai in 1996 and is headquartered in Boston, MA.

GE Asset Management (Japan) (GEAM-JP) is the Tokyo branch and a wholly-owned subsidiary of GE Asset Management Inc., which is the wholly-owned investment management division of General Electrics Co. (NYSE: GE). GEAM-JP provides investment management and financial advisory services to corporations and institutions including government entities, foundations and endowments. They manage discretionary accounts as well as Japan specialist funds and sub-advise portfolios for thirds-party asset managers. The firm operates in close relationship with their parent company GEAM, sharing resources and portfolio management.

TIAA-CREF Investment Management LLC (TCIM) is a registered investment advisor headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1997 and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of TIAA-CREF Asset Management LLC, ultimately owned by TIAA Board of Governors. TCIM provides investment management and certain administrative services necessary for the operation of the College Retirement Equities Fund (CREF), a diversified open-end registered investment management company that consists of eight accounts, that issues individual, group and tax-deferred variable annuity contracts.