Noor Kamruddin

Wasatch Advisors, Inc. (Wasatch) is an independent registered investment advisor headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. The firm was founded by Samuel Stewart and David Wagstaff in 1975. Wasatch provides discretionary investment advice for a variety of clients, which includes mutual funds, collective trusts, separately managed accounts and sub-advised products.

Firsthand Capital Management, Inc. (FHC) was founded Kevin Landis in 1993. Based in San Jose, California, the firm offers no-load mutual funds, specializing in the electronic and medical technology sectors, and manages individual accounts.

Founded in 1969, Oppenheimer Capital is an investment advisor firm located in New York City with an additional office in Newport Beach,, California. Oppenheimer Capital is wholly-owned by Allianz Dresdner Asset Management of America LP (formerly PIMCO Advisors LP), which is a subsidiary of Allianz AG (NYSE: AG). The firm is unrelated to OppenheimerFunds and the brokerage firm CIBC Oppenheimer.

Compass Technology Partners LP (Compass Tech Partners) is a venture capital firm founded in 1988 by David Arscott. The firm is headquartered in Redwood City, California.

In 1915 Charles Edward Merrill founded Merrill Lynch & Co. (NYSE: MER) with Edmund C. Lynch in Baltimore, Maryland. The modern Merrill Lynch was formed in 1940 through mergers with E.A. Pierce & Cassatt and, soon after, Fenner & Beane. In 1973, Merrill Lynch adopted a holding company format, with Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. as the parent and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith as the operating subsidiary. Merrill Lynch Asset Management, Inc. (MLAM) was created as an integral business unit in the Merrill Lynch family in 1976. Fund Asset Management, doing business as Mercury Asset Management, was acquired in December 1997. In 2000, MLAM and Mercury were combined under the name Merrill Lynch Investment Managers. MLAM manages the Merrill Lynch family of mutual funds, as and acts as sub-advisor to other mutual funds.

Matthews International Capital Management LLC (dba Matthews Asia) is an independent SEC-registered investment advisor and mutual fund manager headquartered in San Francisco, California. The firm was founded by Paul Matthews in 1991. Matthews Asia manages portfolios for institutional clients, pension and profit-sharing plans, insurance companies, endowments and foundations and other business entities around the world. Institutional clients include funds registered under the laws of Luxembourg, United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada.

Retix, Inc. provides systems integration services. The private company is based in Santa Monica, CA and has subsidiaries in the United States. The company was founded by Andy de Mari.

Tandem Computers Incorporated designs and manufactures fault-tolerant computer systems and networks for the on-line transaction processing market place. The company's systems are used in the banking, communications, manufacturing, business services, brokerage and securities, retail and wholesale distribution, healthcare and other industries. Its wholly-owned subsidiary, UB Networks, Inc., is a leasing supplier of network hardware and software products. Computer systems and networks products accounted for 79% of fiscal 1996 revenues and service and other, 21%. It was acquired by IBM in 1997 for 3 billion.

US Robotics Corp. provides Internet access and networking. The firm designs broadband modems, wired and wireless networking solutions, and Internet security devices. The company was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Schaumburg, IL.