Ben Loper

BBVA USA (Investment Management) (BBVA USA-IM) is the investment management division of BBVA USA, a bank headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. The firm became part of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC) when it acquired BBVA USA Bancshares, Inc. in 2021. BBVA USA-IM provides investment solution for institutional investors and corporate clients.

Founded in 1989, FBR Capital Markets & Co., formerly Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co., is a broker/dealer headquartered in Arlington, Virginia with additional offices throughout the US. The firm is a subsidiary of FBR Capital Markets Holdings, Inc.. and their ultimate parent is FBR & Co. (NASDAQ: FBRC). In 2007, FBR Capital Markets Corp. was spun out from FBR Group as an independent investment bank, of which FBR Group retained majority ownership. FBR Capital Markets is registered with the SEC and is a member of FINRA, Nasdaq and the SIPC. FBR Capital Markets' Equity Sales & Trading Group provides institutional sales and trading services to over 1300 institutional accounts in the US, Canada, Europe, Australia and Asia. Their clients include mutual funds, hedge funds, money managers, endowments, foundations, banks, insurance companies and pension and profit sharing plans. They actively trade on behalf of clients and make markets in almost 1000 stocks traded on the NYSE, listed and OTC markets and trade more than $100 billion of securities on a per annum basis. In 2009, FBR Capital Markets began making markets in selected stocks traded on the London Stock Exchange and Euronext. In addition to agency trading in listed securities markets, they act as market-maker in Nasdaq and other OTC securities. They are one of the largest distributors of the shares of small- and mid-cap companies in public and private securities offerings and have deep trading expertise in the vertical industry groups in which the firm's investment banking and research teams specialize. These sectors include: (1) consumer (2) diversified industrials (3) energy and natural resources (4) financial institutions (5) healthcare (6) insurance (7) real estate (8) Washington policy analysis and (0) technology, media and telecommunications. The firm's analytical coverage includes a large number of small- and mid-cap companies in addition to large companies. Research is provided by FBR Capital Markets' research department, which is independent from the firm's investment banking department and has the sole authority to determine which companies receive research coverage and the recommendation contained in the coverage.

Longbow Research LLC is an independent investment research firm headquartered in Independence, Ohio. The firm was founded by David S. MacGregor in 2003 to provide the institutional equity research market with a high quality, independent product, free from the many conflicts of interest that plague bulge-bracket research. Longbow Research provides insights and research coverage on publicly-traded mid-cap companies in the industrial/basic materials, consumer and technology sectors.

BBVA USA engages in the provision of banking products and services to individuals and businesses. It offers checking , savings, credit cards, lending, mortgages, investment, specialty programs, and digital servies. The firm also delivers commercial banking services, such as financing and raising capital, treasury management, investments and risk management, international, insurance and retirement products and services. The company was founded on March 2, 1964 and is headquartered in Birmingham, AL.