Sandy F. Vaughan

First Trust Advisors LP (FTA) is a SEC-registered investment advisor headquartered in Wheaton, Illinois. The firm was founded in 1991 and is a direct subsidiary of Grace Partners of Dupage LP. Their general partner is The Charger Corp. FTA provides discretionary investment management services to institutional and individual clients who principally include open and closed-end mutual funds, collective investment funds (CIFs), exchange-traded funds, variable annuity sub-accounts and funds in countries other than the US. Investment management services are offered to individual clients through separate managed accounts (SMAs), either directly or through wrap fee programs sponsored by unaffiliated investment advisors.

Solus Alternative Asset Management LP (Solus) is a privately held, SEC-registered investment advisor and hedge fund manager headquartered in Summit, New Jersey. The firm was founded by Chris Pucillo in 2007 as a spin-off of Stanfield Capital Partners LLC. Solus serves as the investment advisor with discretionary trading authority to private pooled investment vehicles, the securities of which are offered to investors on a private placement basis.

Intrepid Capital Management, Inc. (Intrepid Capital) is a registered investment advisor headquartered in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. The firm was founded by Forrest Travis and Mark Travis in 1994. They are a wholly-owned subsidiary of Intrepid Capital Corp. (NASDAQ: ICAP). Intrepid Capital provides advisory services and non-advisory services to corporate, institutional, and high net worth individuals. They also provide advisory services to mutual funds (registered investment companies) and pooled investment vehicles that are not registered as investment companies.

Palisade Capital Management LLC (Palisade) is a SEC-registered investment advisor headquartered in Fort Lee, New Jersey. The firm was founded in 1995 by Martin L. Berman, Steven E. Berman, and Jack Feiler. They are a subsidiary of Palisade Capital Holdings LP. Palisade offers specialized investment solutions that seek to deliver attractive results to corporations, public plans, financial institutions, family offices, and individuals.

The Illinois State Board of Investment (ISBI) is a pension fund manager headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. They manage the defined benefit assets of the State Employees’ Retirement System, the General Assembly Retirement System, the Judges’ Retirement System of Illinois, the Illinois Power Agency, as well as the State of Illinois Deferred Compensation Plan.

Boothbay Fund Management LLC (Boothbay) is an independent, SEC-registered investment adviser and hedge fund manager headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded by Ari Glass in 2012. Boothbay offers investment advisory services to pooled investment vehicles that have been privately placed.

Boothbay Absolute Return Strategies Offshore Ltd. provides pool investment fund services for hedge fund. The company was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands.

Fitch Ratings, Inc. is a global rating agency and investment research firm headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded by John Knowles in 1913 as Fitch Publishing Co. They are a subsidiary of Fitch Group, Inc., ultimately owned by The Hearst Family Trust. Fitch Ratings seeks to provide independent and prospective credit opinions, research and data to the world's credit markets. Their approach is based on a foundation of local market experience that covers capital markets in over 150 countries. The firm's ratings analysis and rating decisions are based on established criteria, methodologies and ratings definitions which they apply in a consistent manner. Fitch Ratings provides coverage of the following markets: Economics, Banks, Insurance, Sovereigns, Corporates, Structured Finance, Public Finance – International, Public Finance – US, Infrastructure & Project, and Finance.

Part of Invesco Ltd., Van Kampen American Capital, Inc. is a closed-end investment company. The company is based in IL. Van Kampen American Capital was acquired by Morgan Stanley Group, Inc. from Clayton Dubilier & Rice LLC on October 31, 1996 for $745 million.

UBS Asset Management (Americas) LLC (UBS AM) is a SEC-registered investment advisor headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 2000 as UBS Global Asset Management (Americas), Inc. They are a wholly owned subsidiary of UBS Americas, Inc., ultimately owned by UBS Group AG (SIX: UBSG; NYSE: UBS) in Switzerland. UBS AM provides investment products and services to corporate and public pension plans, financial institutions and advisors, central banks, charities, foundations and individual investors around the world.

Loomis, Sayles & Co. LP (Loomis Sayles) is a SEC-registered investment adviser headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm was founded by Robert H. Loomis and Ralph T. Sayles in 1926. They are a direct subsidiary of Natixis Investment Managers LLC, ultimately owned by BPCE SA in France. Loomis Sayles provides investment advisory or sub advisory services to institutional clients through separate account management services. In addition, the firm provides investment advisory or sub-advised services to various investment funds.

Ziegler Capital Management LLC (ZCM) is an asset management firm headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The firm was founded in 1991 as the investment management division of the Ziegler Companies. They became a wholly owned subsidiary of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE: SF), when it acquired ZCM in 2013. The firm provides tailored investment solutions to a wide range of investors.

UBS Securities LLC is an investment bank and registered broker/dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1998 as UBS Warburg LLC. They are a subsidiary of UBS Americas Holding LLC, ultimately held by UBS Group AG (SWX: UBSG, NYSE: UBS) in Switzerland. UBS Securities is a primary dealer in US Government securities and provides a full range of investment banking services which includes corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, trading and sales, fixed-income, equity research, private banking, underwriting and prime brokerage operations. The firm also provides advisory services and access to capital markets for corporate, institutional, intermediary and alternative asset management clients.

Ladenburg Thalmann & Co., Inc. (Broker) is the broker/dealer division of Ladenburg Thalmann & Co., Inc., ultimately held by Advisor Group Holdings, Inc. Headquartered in New York City, the firm was founded in 1876 and offers a full suite of capital markets products and services, including proprietary equity research and a fixed-income trading desk. For institutional asset management clients, the firm provides liquidity, execution, high-quality idea-generating research, and access to corporate management teams. Their institutional coverage includes relationships with over asset management companies all over the world. To corporate clients, they bring access to investor capital, broad distribution capabilities and financial markets advisory. Ladenburg Thalmann is a leader in financing growing middle-market public companies across various industry verticals, including Healthcare & Life Sciences, Yield-Oriented Securities (BDCs, REITs, MLPs), Energy, Power & Infrastructure, and Telecom, Media & Technology.

Sidoti & Co. LLC (S&C) is a registered broker and equity research firm headquartered in New York City. The firm is a subsidiary of Sidoti Holding Co. LLC and was founded in 1999. S&C provides research exclusively to institutional investors. The firm covers the following sectors: housing, retail, basic industries, technology, business services, capital goods, automotive, computer software, regional banking, telecommunications, entertainment, healthcare and consumer products. Their analysts conduct their own due diligence which includes visiting companies and meeting with operating and financial management. In addition, the firm's analysts focus on fundamentals, particularly cash flow from operations and EPS.

JonesTrading Institutional Services LLC (JonesTrading) is a registered broker/dealer headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. The firm was founded in 1975 and is owned by Jones & Associates, Inc. JonesTrading provides equity block trading services to institutional money managers and hedge funds in North America. They proactively source the liquidity required to execute outsized blocks in domestic and global equities and option listed derivatives, at advantageous prices. The firm offers robust access to both developed and emerging market trading.

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc. (KBW) is a full-service investment bank and broker/dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1962 and is a subsidiary of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE: SF). KBW offers sales and trading in equities securities of financial services companies.