Stephen W. Douglas

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.

Kroll LLC provides global advisory services. It offers valuation advisory; governance, risk, investigation, and disputes; kroll cyber risk, corporates finance, and compliance and regulatory consulting. The company was founded by William Duff and George Phelps in 1932 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

Founded in 1958, Merrill Lynch Piece Fenner & Smith, Inc. is an SEC registered broker/dealer located in New York City. The firm is a subsidiary of BAC North America Holding Co. and their ultimate parent is Bank of America Corp. (NYSE BAC).

QTS Realty Trust, Inc. engages in the investments in multiple data centers solutions. It offers service delivery platform, hybrid colocation, connectivity, public sector, and financial services solutions. It caters the following markets: cloud and information technology services, content and digital media, financial services, network, healthcare, retail, government and security, and other. The company was founded on May 17, 2013 and is headquartered in Overland Park, KS.

The New York Society of Security Analysts, Inc. operates as a financial services trade group and networking forum for wall street and provides Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exam. The company was founded in 1937 and is headquartered in New York, NY.