LADENBURG THALMANN FINANCIAL SERVICES INC

Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. is a diversified financial services company based out of Miami, Florida. The company was established in 1876 by Ernest Thalmann and Adolph Ladenburg and would join the New York Stock Exchange in 1879. Ladenburg Thalmann would become one of the major private merchant banking firms in the U.S., participating in a variety of ventures including the financing of the Mexican Central National Railroad merger and the leading of the syndicate for New York Pot Authority bonds. Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services facilitated its growth through acquisitions with the most recent being Investacorp Inc., Triad Advisors, Inc., Premier Trust, Inc., and Securities America. The company has grown to now have a network of over 4,000 independent financial advisors across the U.S. Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services’s established network employees over 2,700 people and advisors and provides a variety of services through its key segments. Its Independent Brokerage and Advisory Services segment provides a variety of advisory and brokerage services to mutual funds, variable annuities, trust administration, wealth management, brokerage support, research, and accounting services, among many others, operating through a variety of subsidiaries including Securities America, Triad Advisors, Investacorp, Securities Service Network, and KMS Financial Services. Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services’s investment banking segment, operated mainly through Ladenburg Thalmann & Co., provides a variety of investment banking services such as underwriting, public offerings, advisory services, and research and trading services. The company’s Insurance Brokerage segment, operated through Highland Capital Brokerage, provides a variety of insurance, annuities, and long term care solutions. Its asset management segment, mainly operated through Ladenburg Thalmann Asset Management, provides a variety of advisory, fiduciary, and strategy products and services. Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services mainly invests in the finance sector, which alone makes up over half of its total asset allocations, and also invests in the information technology, health care, consumer staples, and utilities and telecommunications sectors, among others to a lesser degree, in order of decreasing allocation.