Stephen Bersey

Founded in 1969, HSBC Securities (U.S.A.) Inc. is an SEC-registered brokerage firm and registered futures commission merchant located in New York City. The firm is a wholly-owned subsidiary of HSBC North America Holdings, Inc. and their ultimate parent is HSBC Holdings Plc. (NYSE: HBC). HSBC Securities (U.S.A.) is a member of FINRA, the NYSE and the SIPC. Their securities and annuity products are provided by registered representatives and insurance agents of HSBC Securities (U.S.A.). In California, HSBC Securities (U.S.A.) conducts insurance business as HSBC Securities Insurance Services. Insurance products are offered through insurance agents of HSBC Insurance Agency (U.S.A.) Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of HSBC Bank U.S.A. NA and an indirectly wholly-owned subsidiary of HSBC Holdings plc. The company also engages in investment banking underwriting, dealing and brokering of debt and equity securities and futures contracts and is a primary dealer in U.S. Government and federal agency securities.

Daiwa Capital Markets America, Inc. (DCMA), formerly Daiwa Securities America, Inc., is an SEC-registered broker/dealer headquartered in New York City and was founded in 1964. The firm is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Daiwa Capital Markets America Holdings, Inc., itself a wholly-owned subsidiary of Daiwa Securities Capital Markets Co. Ltd., which is a subsidiary of Daiwa Securities Group, Inc. (TK: 8601), a Tokyo-based investment bank and broker/dealer. DCMA provides high quality investment data, analysis and research products to major U.S. institutional investors.

Bear, Stearns & Co., Inc. is a global investment banking, securities trading and brokerage firm located in New York City with additional offices in Dallas, Boston and San Francisco. The firm is a subsidiary Bear Sterns Cos., Inc. (NYSE: BSC). Their equity research team consists of senior analysts located throughout the world. In addition to domestic coverage, they have research teams focusing on Latin America, Asia and Europe. The analysts use a bottom-up approach to stock selection. The Bear Stearns fixed-income research department provides coverage of every sector of the fixed-income universe. The financial analytics and structured transactions group (F.A.S.T) provides investment research, fixed-income portfolio management and analytical systems, trading technology and general financial expertise. The group also provides a broad range of services to financial institutions including asset-liability management, balance sheet restructuring, receivables-based financing analysis, security and portfolio analysis, peer analysis, and historical and real-time market-based information.

Cowen & Co. LLC is a SEC-registered broker/dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 2004 and is a subsidiary of Cowen Holdings, Inc., ultimately owned by The Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSE: TD) in Canada. Cowen & Co. offers industry-focused investment banking for growth-oriented companies, domain knowledge-driven research and a sales and trading platform for institutional investors. Their institutional sales and trading business serves both equity and fixed-income clients. Sales and trading execution platform is structured around the following key verticals: (1) healthcare (2) technology, telecommunications and media (TMT) (3) REITs and financials (4) aerospace and defense (5) consumer and (6) alternative energy.

DWS Investment Management Americas, Inc. (DIMA) is a SEC-registered investment advisor headquartered in New York City. The firm is a subsidiary of DWS USA Corp., ultimately held by Deutsche Bank AG (ETR: DBK) in Germany. The firm was founded in 1984 and formerly known as Deutsche Investment Management Americas Inc. In 2018, they changed their name into DWS as part of the rebranding of Deutsche Asset Management. DIMA provides discretionary and non-discretionary investment advisory services to various institutional clients. They also provide investment advisory services for its municipal bond strategies through wrap fee programs.

Part of Burke & Quick Partners Holdings LLC, Burke & Quick Partners LLC is a brokerage services provider. The company is based in Uniondale, NY. The company was founded in 2010 by James Brian Burke. James Brian Burke has been the CEO since 2010.

Grant Thornton LLP provides accounting, tax and business consulting services. It offers advisory, business consulting, business risk, enterprise technology and innovation, transaction services, data analytics, cyber risk, and data integrity services. The firm serves the construction, real estate and hospitality, consumer and industrial products, energy, financial services, health care and life sciences, not for profit organizations, private equity, public sector, and technology industries. The company was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Chicago, IL.

Founded in 1972 by Candace King, C.L. King & Associates, Inc. is a self-clearing, service-oriented broker/dealer and investment bank located in Albany, New York with additional offices in Boston and New York City. The firm delivers investment research, equity and fixed-income sales and trading, prime brokerage, investment advisor and clearing services to institutional and high net-worth clients and to other broker/dealers. For corporations, they underwrite securities and provide strategic advice in connection with mergers, acquisitions, strategic alternatives and valuation. C.L. King & Associates is a member of FINRA and the SIPC. C.L. King & Associates follows 120 names in 9 sectors. They seek to discover uncovered investment opportunities by seeking out companies that may be ignored by other Wall Street research providers and by identifying value and growth that may be unrecognized by institutional equity investors. The firm provides comprehensive trading services including capital commitment, market making and listed block positioning for their institutional equity clients. C.L. King & Associates' fixed-income group focuses on trading fixed-income securities, primarily in the secondary market. They offer a broad cross section of agencies, convertibles, investment-grade corporates, mortgage-backed securities, municipals, CDs and preferred stock to other broker/Dealers and institutional investors. The firm's investment banking group provides strategic M&A advice and capital raising services to emerging and mid-cap companies, both public and private. In addition, they act as a WBE underwriter in stock and bond offerings by large corporate issuers. C.L. King & Associates' corporate services group offers specialized services to assist corporate clients and their executives in handling delicate stock holding matters. Their services include guiding clients through restricted stock/rule 144 transactions, developing customized rule 10b5-1 trading plans and managing corporate share repurchase programs. The firm's equity research is based on a fundamental, value-oriented approach that focuses on small- and mid-cap companies. The firm offers research on the following sectors: special situations, building materials companies, specialty retail/apparel/footwear, industrials/cyclicals, restaurants/franchising, business services/staffing companies, telecommunications equipment and medical technology/devices/supplies.