John Stephen Armour

BlackRock Fund Advisors (BFA) is a SEC-registered investment advisor headquartered in San Francisco, California. The firm was founded in 1984 and is a subsidiary of BlackRock Delaware Holdings, Inc., ultimately held by BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK). BFA manages assets for US registered investment companies, including ETFs. Mandates include cash management, equity, fixed income, multi-asset and index strategies.

Founded in 1898, Northeastern University is a private research university located in the heart of Boston. Northeastern teaches worldwide experiential learning, urban engagement, and interdisciplinary research that meets global and societal needs. The University offers a range of undergraduate and graduate programs leading to degrees through the doctorate in nine colleges and schools.

Turner Construction Co. provides construction and general contracting services. Its services include preconstruction consulting, program management, general construction, project and construction management, building maintenance and multiple building programs. The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC (Credit Suisse Securities USA) is the broker/dealer division of Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, an investment banking company headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1998 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Credit Suisse (USA), Inc., ultimately owned by Credit Suisse Group AG (SWX: CSGN) in Switzerland. Credit Suisse Securities USA offers a suite of equities, solutions and credit products and services which includes global securities sales, trading and execution, prime brokerage and comprehensive investment research. Their clients include financial institutions, corporations, governments, institutional investors, such as pension funds and hedge funds, and private individuals around the world.

Valens Research LLC provides investment research. The private company is based in Cambridge, MA and has subsidiaries in Philippines. The company was founded in 2009. The CEO is Joel Aaron Litman.

Institutional Shareholder Services, Inc. (ISS) is an investment research firm headquartered in Rockville, Maryland. The firm was founded in 1985 and is owned by Viss Intermediate LLC, which is ultimately held by Deutsche Börse AG (ETR: DB1) in Germany. ISS provides corporate governance and responsible investment solutions globally to other investment advisers, including investment advisers to investment companies, pension and profit-sharing plans, broker-dealers, asset owners, asset managers, banks or thrift institutions, hedge funds, trusts, estates, charitable organizations and other institutional investors, as well as law firms, and universities. The firm also provides data to third parties for use in thematic based indices. Their solutions include objective governance research and recommendations; responsible investment data, analytics, and research; end-to-end proxy voting and distribution solutions; turnkey securities class-action claims management provided by Securities Class Action Services, LLC (ISS SCAS); reliable global governance data and modeling tools; asset management intelligence, portfolio execution and monitoring, fund services, and media.

Barclays Capital, Inc. is a registered broker/dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1997 and is a subsidiary of Barclays Group US, Inc., ultimately owned by Barclays plc (LON: BARC) in Great Britain. Barclays Capital provides large corporate, government and institutional clients a full spectrum of prime brokerage services which includes equities and fixed income financing, OTC Clearing, Futures and Foreign Exchange Prime Brokerage and access to industry insights and analytics from their Strategic Consulting team.

Cornell University is an educational institution that offers undergraduate and post graduate programs. It was founded in 1865 and is based in Ithaca, NY.

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC is a registered broker-dealer subsidiary of Morgan Stanley Domestic Holdings, Inc., ultimately owned by Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) in the US. Headquartered in New York City, the firm was founded in 1987 and provides debt and equity services including underwriting, M&A advice, securities dealing and brokerage and trade execution. Their client base ranges from large global institutional investors to hedge funds at the cutting edge of innovation in the industry.

BlackRock Advisors LLC is a SEC-registered investment advisor and mutual fund manager headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1994 and is a subsidiary of BlackRock Capital Holdings, Inc., ultimately held by BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK). BlackRock Advisors manages assets for US-registered investment companies and 529 Plans.

Truist Securities, Inc. is a registered broker-dealer headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The firm was founded in 1894 as SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc. In 2020, the firm was renamed following the integration of SunTrust Robinson Humphrey and BB&T Capital Markets. The firm is a subsidiary of Truist Financial Corp. (NYSE: TFC) and is an active market maker in equity and fixed-income products. Truist Securities delivers a comprehensive range of strategic advisory, capital raising, risk management, and financing solutions, as well as a dynamic suite of sales, trading, and research services in both fixed-income and equity. Their strategies are carefully tailored to meet the needs and vision of their clients.