Ralph Alfonso

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.

Bear Stearns Asset Management Inc (Bear Stearns) is a Private Equity/Venture Capital firm, a subsidiary of The Bear Stearns Cos LLC founded in 1985. The firm is headquartered in the US.

Bankers Trust Co. is an asset management headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa. The firm was founded in 1917 and is a subsidiary of BTC Financial Corp. The firm serves as a trusted partner for individuals’ comprehensive financial planning, trust and fiduciary needs.

Daiwa Capital Markets America, Inc. (DCMA), formerly Daiwa Securities America, Inc., is an SEC-registered broker/dealer headquartered in New York City and was founded in 1964. The firm is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Daiwa Capital Markets America Holdings, Inc., itself a wholly-owned subsidiary of Daiwa Securities Capital Markets Co. Ltd., which is a subsidiary of Daiwa Securities Group, Inc. (TK: 8601), a Tokyo-based investment bank and broker/dealer. DCMA provides high quality investment data, analysis and research products to major U.S. institutional investors.

Founded in 1997, Imperial Capital LLC is a full-service investment banking firm and broker/dealer headquartered in Los Angeles. The firm is a subsidiary of Imperial Capital Group LLC and their ultimate parent is Imperial Capital Group Holdings LLC. Imperial Capital offers a range of proprietary products and services to institutional investors, middle-market companies and private equity firms. The firm provides institutional clients research and sales and trading of high yield and distressed debt securities, bank debt, convertible bonds, preferred stocks, and equities. They also provide middle-market companies and financial sponsors with capital markets, M&A, capital structure, restructuring and recapitalization advisory services. For their institutional clients, Imperial Capital offers a variety of research products including bank debt, investment grade debt, high yield, distressed and special situations, convertibles and busted convertibles, equities, preferred securities and industry analysis. Imperial Capital's research focuses on the following sectors: aerospace, defense and government services; airlines/transportation; business services; clean energy; consumer; energy; financial services; gaming and leisure; general industrials; healthcare; homebuilding and real estate; media and telecommunications; security and homeland security; and technology.

Mizuho Securities USA LLC is the US-based securities broker/dealer and futures commission merchant arm of Mizuho Americas LLC, ultimately held by Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. (TYO: 8411, NYSE: MFG) in Japan. Headquartered in New York City, the firm was founded in 1994 and provides institutional and corporate clients access to commodity and financial markets around the world. Mizuho Securities USA covers the following industries: Consumer, Energy, Financial Institutions, Financial Sponsors, Healthcare, Industrial & Diversified Industries, Power, Utilities & Infrastructure, Real Estate, and Technology, Media & Telecom (TMT). The firm and their affiliates hold memberships on all major futures and options exchanges worldwide.

Quadriserv, Inc. engages in the provision of securities finance activities. The company was founded by Martin Hakker, Gregory W. DePetris, Sean McNamara, and Joseph Charles Weinhoffer and is headquartered in New York, NY.

Deutsche Bank Alex Brown, Inc. provides wealth management services. The company was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Baltimore, MD.

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. provides clearance, settlement and information services. The firm offers institutional trade processing, clearing, settlement and asset, wealth management, repository and derivatives and data services. The company was founded in 1999 is headquartered in New York, NY.

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

Share Our Strength, Inc. runs a national campaign for eradicating poverty and hunger. It offers school break fast, summer and after school meals, food skills education and advocacy solutions. It runs No Kid Hungry, is a national campaign to solve problems of childhood hunger. The company was founded by Billy Shore and Debbie Shore in 1984 and is headquartered in Washington, DC.

Macquarie Capital Securities (Japan) Ltd. (MCS-J) is a securities brokerage firm and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Macquarie International Investments, which in turn is a subsidiary of Macquarie Bank Ltd. (SY: MBL), based in Australia. Established in 2004 following the acquisition of the Asian equity division of ING Groep NV (NYSE: ING) by Macquarie, MCS-J provides trading and financial analysis services to Japanese and overseas institutions as well as hedge funds. The firm specializes in Japanese equity, economic research, fundamental research at the company level, quantitative analysis, information on infrastructure funds and other funds, equity derivatives and structured products. They also act as intermediary for Macquarie Bank in the equity-linked notes private placement market. The firm's analysts research themes including Japanese reflation, global industries and Asian technologies. MCS-J is located in Tokyo, and operates in close cooperation with Macquarie sales teams in London, Geneva, Frankfurt, New York and Boston.

Part of Moody's Corp., Moody's América Latina Ltda. is a company based in São Paulo, Brazil. Moody's América Latina Ltda. provides investment research. The Brazilian company was founded in 1997. Carlos Prates has been the CEO of the company since 2021.

Haitong International Holdings Ltd. operates as an investment holding company. The company was founded on July 24, 2007 and is headquartered in Hong Kong.

Command Consulting Group LLC provides safety, security, and risk management solutions. It offers services to the government, private sector, individual, and family clients. The firm provides end-to-end support by helping its clients assess risk against capabilities and then by designing and implementing targeted solutions to protect people and property. The company was founded by W. Ralph Basham, Joe Hagin, Steve Atkiss and Thad Bingel in 2009 and is headquartered Washington, DC.

Marex Capital Markets, Inc. (Marex) is a registered broker-dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1952 and formerly known as E D & F Man Capital Markets, Inc. In 2022, the firm was acquired by Marex Group PLC in Great Britain. Marex provides critical high value-add services in Market Making, Execution and Clearing, Hedging and Investment Solutions, Price Discovery and Data & Advisory. They provide access to the world’s major commodity markets, which covers a broad range of clients that include some of the largest commodity producers, consumers and traders, banks, hedge funds and asset managers.

Tribeca Early Stage Partners (Tribeca ESP) is a venture capital firm founded in 2014 by Michael Rushmore. The firm is headquartered in New York.

FinClusive Capital, Inc. develops block chain architected digital banking, routing and payments platform. The company is headquartered in Guilford, VT.