Chip Skinner

Royce & Associates LP, dba Royce Investment Partners (Royce), is a SEC-registered investment advisor headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded by Charles Royce in 1972 and is a subsidiary of Legg Mason Royce Holdings LLC, which is ultimately owned by Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE: BEN). Royce offers investment advisory services to US registered investment companies, non-US investment companies, collective investment trusts, two separate series of a privately offered limited liability company, and institutional separate accounts managed for a pension plan and a charitable organization.

In 1915 Charles Edward Merrill founded Merrill Lynch & Co. (NYSE: MER) with Edmund C. Lynch in Baltimore, Maryland. The modern Merrill Lynch was formed in 1940 through mergers with E.A. Pierce & Cassatt and, soon after, Fenner & Beane. In 1973, Merrill Lynch adopted a holding company format, with Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. as the parent and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith as the operating subsidiary. Merrill Lynch Asset Management, Inc. (MLAM) was created as an integral business unit in the Merrill Lynch family in 1976. Fund Asset Management, doing business as Mercury Asset Management, was acquired in December 1997. In 2000, MLAM and Mercury were combined under the name Merrill Lynch Investment Managers. MLAM manages the Merrill Lynch family of mutual funds, as and acts as sub-advisor to other mutual funds.