Chuck M. Padala

Brean Capital is an independent investment bank and registered broker/dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1973 and provides equity research, corporate finance and advisory investment banking, equity institutional sales and trading, and asset management to institutional investors and corporate clients. Their fixed income business provides sales, trading, research and banking services on a wide range of mortgage and asset-backed, US Treasury and government agency securities, structured products, corporate bonds, and municipal debt. The fixed income sales team employs a highly analytical approach to bond selection, trade execution, and overall bond portfolio management. Under the guidance of fixed income strategists, the fixed income team uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative analyses to create custom investment portfolios and develop targeted, executable bond trading strategies to complement their clients? balance sheets.

MKM Partners LLC (MKM) is a premier institutional equity trading, sales, and research firm headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. The firm was founded by Thomas G. Messina in 2002. They were acquired in 2023 by ROTH Capital Partners LLC, a subsidiary of CR Financial Holdings LLC. MKM provides timely, insightful, and actionable proprietary research to hedge funds, mutual funds, family offices, endowments, corporates, private equity, pension plans, RIAs, etc. The firm combines high-impact fundamental analysis with macroeconomics, technical insights, derivatives strategies, event-driven commentary, alternative research, and first-rate execution. They take a client-centric approach to the trading desk and utilize both a top-down and bottom-up approach.

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.

Founded by Darren Caris in 2002, Caris & Co., Inc. is a broker/dealer headquartered in Del Mar, California. The firm is a subsidiary of B. Riley & Co. They offer research that is independent of their investment banking activities, as well as a full array of trading and execution services. Caris & Co.'s coverage includes large-, mid- and small-cap companies in the healthcare, technology, energy and consumer sectors. Their research is written for the longer-term investor with an investment horizon of at least 12 months. Caris & Co., Inc. is a member of the NASD and the SIPC.