Scott Michael Bilyeu

Heller Financial, Inc. provided mercantile financing. It was acquired by GE Capital Corp. The company was located in Chicago, IL

Mason Street Advisors LLC (MSA) is a SEC-registered investment advisor headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The firm was founded in 2001 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. MSA provides professional portfolio management services for institutional investors by providing continuous investment advice and management based upon the individual needs and objectives of each client.

Oak Ridge Investments LLC (Oak Ridge) is an independent registered investment advisor headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The firm was founded by David M. Klaskin in 1989. Oak Ridge manages discretionary accounts for a variety of clients including individuals, investment companies, pension and profit sharing plans, retirement accounts, trusts, estates, corporations and other business entities, charitable organizations, and banks and thrift institutions.

Brandes Investment Partners LP (Brandes) is a SEC-registered investment advisor headquartered in La Jolla, California. The firm was founded by Charles H. Brandes in 1974 and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Brandes Worldwide Holdings LP. Brandes provides investment advisory services to individuals and institutional investors. They also participate in a number of wrap fee arrangements sponsored by unaffiliated brokers-dealers or program sponsors.

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.

Fayez Sarofim & Co. (FSC) is a SEC-registered investment advisor headquartered in Houston, Texas. The firm was founded by Fayez Sarofim in 1958 and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Sarofim Group, Inc. FSC manages investment portfolios for a wide range of clients which includes pension plans, foundations, endowments and individuals.

McMorgan & Co. LLC (McMorgan) is a SEC-registered investment advisor headquartered in San Francisco, California. The firm was founded in 1969 and is owned by MCM Holdings LP. McMorgan provides investment management services to institutional clients such as Taft-Hartley pension plans, multi-employer, jointly-trusted benefit plans, public pension plans, and other institutional clients, individual clients, as well as to high-net-worth clients.

Piper Sandler & Co. (Broker) (PSC-Broker) is the full-service brokerage division of Piper Sandler & Co., a financial service firm headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They are a subsidiary of Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE: PIPR). The firm was founded in 1969 and previously known as Piper Jaffray & Co. They became Piper Sandler & Co. when Piper Jaffray Companies and Sandler O’Neill & Partners, L.P. merged to become Piper Sandler Companies in 2020. PSC-Broker provides brokerage and investment banking services to financial institutions, corporations and other financial investors. Their core focus sectors are Agriculture, renewables & cannabis, Business services, Chemicals & Materials, Consumer, Diversified industrials & services, Energy, Financial services, financial sponsors, Healthcare, and Technology.

Sunnova Energy Corp. provides solar plus battery storage services. Its products and services includes new home solar, add-on battery storage, home solar protection plans, home solar + roofing. The company was founded by William Jackson Berger, Lynda Attaway, and Jordan Fruge in 2010 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.

Country Trust Bank provides trust & other financial services. It offers investment management, trust, and retirement planning services. The company is headquartered in Bloomington, IL.

Bain & Co., Inc. provides management consulting services. It offers advisory services to the companies on their critical issues and opportunities: strategy, marketing, organization, operations, technology and mergers and acquisitions, across all industries and geographies. The company was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Boston, MA.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC (GS&Co.) is a securities brokerage firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1927, the firm is a subsidiary of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS). GS&Co. provides services to help hedge funds manage risk, monitor portfolios, maintain liquidity and build their businesses. They offer clients access to global equity and derivatives markets, as well as foreign exchange, commodities, European Lefts, rates and credit across the Americas, Europe and Asia. The firm proactively monitors capital markets, searching for pockets of liquidity and news that may require changes to those strategies. Integration with the Goldman Sachs network gives clients access to the firm's sectored block trades and their insights into price discovery. Their electronic trading program provides clients with tools to manage their trades from pre-trade analytics to post-trade analysis.

Asset Allocation & Management Co. LLC (AAM) is a SEC-registered investment advisor headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The firm was founded in 1982 and is principally owned by Securian AAM Holdings LLC, ultimately owned by Minnesota Mutual Cos., Inc. AAM provides discretionary and non-discretionary investment advice to insurance companies across all business segments of the industry including Property and Casualty, Life, Health and Captive insurers.

Capital Management Group, Inc. (CMG) is an independent, SEC-registered investment advisor headquartered in Wheaton, Illinois. Founded in 2000, CMG provides investment management services to individuals, businesses, trusts, and employee benefit plans.

Ensemble Investments LLC provides real estate services. The firm creates exceptional real estate in the healthcare, hospitality, commercial and urban multifamily/mixed-use sectors. The company was founded by Kambiz Babaoff in 1980 and is headquartered in Long Beach, CA.

Northland Securities, Inc. (NSI) is a dually registered, full-service broker dealer and investment advisor headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The firm was founded in 2002 and is owned by Northland Capital Holdings, Inc., which was acquired by First National of Nebraska, Inc. (OTCMKTS: FINN) in 2023. NSI is actively engaged in buying and selling securities for its own account as well as for clients.

Northwestern University is a private institution founded in 1851 to serve the Northwest Territory, an area that now includes the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and parts of Minnesota. Northwestern has three campuses

Accenture LLC operates as a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. The company is headquartered in Reston, VA.

Rochester Institute of Technology is a privately endowed, coeducational university with ten colleges emphasizing career education and experiential learning. It was founded in 1829 and is headquartered in Rochester, NY.

Achates Power, Inc. designs and develops internal combustion engines. The firm's solutions encompass opposed-piston, compression ignition, and two-stroke diesel engines. It focuses on the development and commercialization of engines that aim to increase fuel efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The firm's capabilities encompass computer-based design, testing, simulation, data monitoring, and analysis tools development. The company was founded by James U. Lemke in 2004 and is headquartered in San Diego, CA.

Yieldex, Inc. provides online advertising analytics for forecasting and optimization of premium inventory. It develops decision support services to publishers for sales and operations applications, as well as presents a view of available inventory and revenue forecasting for sellable products and combinations and offer dashboards, analytic reports, and scenario planning services that enable publishers to manage business, as well as to enable publisher departments to manage day-to-day activities, and determine the optimal inventory and order allocation. The company was founded by Thomas A. Shields and Douglas C. Cosman in 2007 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

Aerospike, Inc. offers real-time NoSQL database solutions. It offers advertising technology, ecommerce and retail, financial services, telecommunications, online gaming and gambling industries. The company was founded by Brian Bulkowski and Srini V. Srinivasan in 2009 and is headquartered in Mountain View, CA.

Bugcrowd, Inc. provides crowdsourced security for mobile applications. It offers security testing solutions for Web applications, APIs and Webservices, SaaS applications, various types of Websites, and customer premise products; mobile apps, such as iOS, Android, and more; and charities and not-for-profits. The firm provides security testing solutions through a Crowdcontrol system. The company was founded by Casey Ellis, Sergei Belokamen and Chris Raethke in 2012 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.

Nozomi Networks, Inc. provides operational technology and Internet of things security and visibility services. It offers guardian, central management console, threat and asset intelligence and smart polling. The firm provides solutions for building automation systems, electric utilites, mining, oil and gas, pharmaceutical, transportation and logistics. The company was founded by Andrea Carcano and Moreno Carullo in 2013 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.

Manulife Investment Management Private Markets (US) LLC (Manulife Investment Management) is a private equity subsidiary of Manulife Financial Corp founded in 1997. The firm is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

Advantage Capital Partners (Advantage Capital) is a private equity firm founded in 1992 by Steven T. Stull and David W. Bergmann. The firm is headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana.