Michael John O'Keefe

Foresters Investment Management Co. Inc. (FIMC) is a mutual fund manager and registered investment advisor headquartered in New York City. The firm is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Foresters Financial Holding Co. Inc., itself a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Independent Order of Foresters, a Canadian fraternal benefit society with operations in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. Founded in 1971, FIMC was formerly known as First Investors Management Co., Inc. They act as investment adviser primarily to the First Investors Family of Funds. The First Investors Family of Funds consists of four trusts, which collectively contain 50 registered investment companies. The firm also acts as investment advisor to various proprietary accounts.

Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. (MLPFS) is the SEC-registered broker/dealer subsidiary of Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., ultimately held by Charlotte-based Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC). The firm was founded in 1958 and is headquartered in New York City. In 2010, Banc of America Securities LLC merged with MLPFS and the firm uses the trade name Bank of America Merrill Lynch. MLPFS's global strategy and economics team serves institutional and individual investors using a wide range of macroeconomic disciplines. Their analysis of global issues provides clients with investment ideas, market forecasts, macro overviews and specific sector recommendations across asset classes, regions and disciplines. Their equity research team conducts fundamental analysis on companies globally and provides institutional and retail clients with industry-specific and in-depth research and analysis on numerous industries. The firm's global fixed-income and equity-linked research focuses on fixed-income and equity derivatives, fixed-income strategy, convertibles, commodities, high-yield, mortgages, municipals and global foreign exchange.