Dirk Thomas

Founded in 2008, DISCERN Investment Analytics, Inc. is an independent investment research firm located in San Francisco, California. The firm's provides technology-enabled investment research for professional fund managers. DISCERN's research is developed using external experts, information analytics tools and proprietary data streams. They seek to identify trends and investment opportunities in emerging markets just over the long-term horizon. DISCERN partners with a variety of external experts, data service companies and financial technology providers and employs a variety of fundamental and quantitative sources of proprietary global information. The firm's partners include: AlphaTheory, Altos Research, Monvia and Summit View Partners.

HGST, a Western Digital company (NASDAQ: WDC), develops innovative, advanced hard disk drives, enterprise-class solid state drives, external storage solutions and services used to store, preserve and manage the world’s most valued data. HGST addresses customers’ rapidly changing storage needs by delivering intelligent storage devices that tightly integrate hardware and software to maximize solution performance. Founded by the pioneers of hard drives, HGST provides high-value storage for a broad range of market segments, including Enterprise, Cloud, Data Center, Mobile Computing, Consumer Electronics and Personal Storage. HGST was established in 2003 and maintains its U.S. headquarters in San Jose, California.