Merrill Lynch, 116 Terrace Ave, Port Chester, NY 10573, US

NorthCoast Asset Management was formed in 1988 by Paul Dean, Richard Semels, and Dr. Harry Suber ' each bringing more than 20 years experience to the table. Their belief was that few equity money managers were good at managing risk and even fewer were consistent in their decision-making. An opportunity existed for a firm which recognized that money management was as much about avoiding punishing losses as it was with booking terrific gains. At the same time, the firm understood the value of quantitative research and rules-based management. Sixteen years later, the same principles hold. What has changed is the bear market of 2000-2002 as the risk management facade created by high-priced marketing campaigns came crashing down. Goliath mutual fund complexes and white shoe investment firms equally handed their clients losses anywhere between 50% to 75%, erasing years of gains. NorthCoast Asset Management proved its mettle in that market holding losses to just 3% from December 1999 to December 2002 in its core program, Asset Allocation. By holding a majority of its clients' assets in cash, NorthCoast Asset Management fulfilled its promise in 1988 to create and manage programs that not only grow capital but also preserve it. Mr. Dean graduated from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1966 with a B.S degree in Industrial Engineering and earned a MBA from Harvard University in 1968. He has been involved in researching, developing and implementing futures trading strategies and programs based on trend-timing trading philosophy since 1974. Mr. Dean was the partner of the late Richard D. Donchian, one of the first advocates of the diversified trend-following approach to managed futures. He co-founded NorthCoast Asset Management in 1988. Mr. Semels graduated from the University of Connecticut in 1964 with a B.A. degree in English. Mr. Semels spent ten years in advertising, then joined Salomon Smith Barney Inc where he held the title Senior Vice President-Investments. He has been involved in researching, developing and implementing trading and risk management systems for use in the futures and securities markets since 1975. Mr. Semels co-founded NorthCoast Asset Management in 1988. Previously, Mr. Kraninger was Senior Vice President of GE Private Asset Management ( GEPAM ) a $2.5 billion money management subsidiary of GE Capital. His responsibility at GEPAM was directing their Private Client Group - a team that advised and managed money for over 1, 500 high-net worth clients. Prior to GE, he served as President of O'Shaughnessy Capital Management ( OCM ), a $1 billion Greenwich investment adviser and mutual fund manager that he helped establish in 1996 with founder, Jim O'Shaughnessy. OCM later sold its assets to Netfolio, LLC in January, 2000. Before OCM, Mr. Kraninger worked at Merrill Lynch as a member of the 1994 JET Program and he is a graduate of Villanova University in Philadelphia. Mr. Elam graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 1969 with a B.S. degree in Science. Mr. Elam has traded futures professionally since 1970, using and writing computer programs for trading portfolios. He was a founding director of the National Association of Futures Trading Advisors and has served on the National Futures Association's CTA/CPO Advisory Committee and the NFA's Business Conduct Committee, Eastern Region. Mr. Dean graduated from Emory University in 1993 with a degree in Economics. After two years of working in athlete representation and sports marketing, he came to NorthCoast Asset Management and has since headed operations. Mr. Wildern began his career in the securities industry in 1999 with UBS PaineWebber. In 2001, Mr. Wildern joined Fidelity Investments as a Financial Advisor and enjoyed a productive seven years. Upon his departure, he was a Vice President within the high net worth Private Access group, where he managed a $700 million portfolio of both individual and institutional client assets. Mr. Wildern holds a B.S. in Economi