Katherine S. Kim

Founded in 2005, Affirmed Capital LLC is a hedge fund manager located in New York City

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.

Headquartered in San Francisco with additional offices in New York City, Minneapolis, Chicago and Boston, ThinkEquity Partners is a broker/dealer. The firm offers targeted research and investment banking services for institutional investors and corporate clients. They specialize in identifying, analyzing and understanding the technological, macroeconomic and cultural trends that impact key growth verticals, with a particular concentration on healthcare, technology, media/education and business/consumer services. The firm starts with a top-down analysis approach and then allocates resources based on a long-range research roadmap.

C. E. Unterberg, Towbin is a global investment bank headquartered in New York City with additional offices in California and Israel. The firm provides investment banking, research and investment management services to emerging growth companies and investors in the technology, health care and defense, security and diversified technology sectors. C. E. Unterberg was founded in 1932 by Clarence Unterberg. In 1977, the firm merged with L. F. Rothschild to form L. F. Rothschild, Unterberg, Towbin. In 1990, the firm again became privately owned and independent when Clarence Unterberg's son, Thomas I. Unterberg, re-launched the firm as a full-service investment bank.

UBS Investment Bank provides investment banking and securities brokerage services. Its clients include institutional and corporate clients, intermediaries, governments, and hedge funds. The firm also provides merger and acquisition advisory, private placement, investment research, foreign exchange, equity, and leverage finance advisory services. The firm is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.

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.

Perella Weinberg Partners LP (PWP) is the registered broker/dealer subsidiary of Perella Weinberg Partners Group LP. Headquartered in New York City, the firm was founded in 2005 by Joe Perella, Peter Weinberg and Tarek Abdel-Meguid. PWP offers full spectrum of brokerage services to retail clients.