Michael Stephen Weiner

New Generation Advisors LLC (NGA) is an independent registered investment advisor and hedge fund manager headquartered in Manchester, Massachusetts. The firm was founded by George Putnam III in 2007 and succeeded to the investment advisory business of New Generation Advisers, Inc. in 2008. NGA provides investment management services to two limited partnerships, the NGA Funds, one formed in Massachusetts and the other in Bermuda. The limited partners in the NGA Funds consist of high net-worth individuals, family offices, endowments, other institutions and funds-of-funds.

Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Banc of America Securities (BAS) is the investment banking subsidiary of Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC). The firm provides both the domestic and international equity and investment banking markets, and pursues a strategy pioneered by Citigroup that combines corporate lending with investment banking advice and services. They provide high-yield debt underwriting and leveraged finance, in addition to industry coverage groups such as healthcare, media and telecom, financial institutions, real estate and gaming. BAS also does a significant amount of work for Financial Sponsors, or private equity firms, often financing leveraged transactions. Following the strategy of Goldman Sachs, the firm lacks a standalone mergers and acquisitions department, instead employing mergers and acquisitions senior bankers throughout the industry coverage groups. The firm is registered as a broker/dealer with the SEC, is a member of the NYSE, and the NASD. The use of Banc in the BAS's name is indicative of the fact that the company is not a bank, and their deposits and other holdings are not insured by the FDIC.