The company was founded in 1988, on the belief that experienced investment professionals using disciplined investment processes and sophisticated analytical tools can consistently add value to client portfolios. This philosophy, combined with our fiduciary culture -- focused on excellence, teamwork and integrity -- has made BlackRock one of the world's fastest growing and most successful investment firms.

Despite its growth, BlackRock continues to maintain a strong, independent corporate governance and management structure, built on enduring passion and integrity that have earned our clients' long-term trust. We are most proud of the fact that our values remain intact. One of the founding principles of BlackRock is that pursuing clients' best interests is in our own interest, a belief that holds true to this day and that is the center of every business and investment decision we make.

FAMCO is 100% owned by Piper Jaffray Investment Management, Inc. (PJIM), a wholly owned subsidiary of Piper Jaffray Companies. From 1974 through 1994, the founders of FAMCO were the internal asset management arm of General Dynamics Corporation. In 1994, during a broad corporate restructuring, the group elected to outsource its services from General Dynamics and became a federally registered investment advisor. FAMCO continues to function as chief investment officer of the retirement and savings plan assets of General Dynamics.

Our goal is to maximize after-tax total returns utilizing a long-term approach whereby strategy dominates tactics. The Strategy Committee reviews various macroeconomic data to appraise the economic and market cycles. At the research level, we group individual securities by sector, asset class correlation and style, seeking to profit from strategic allocations to groups likely to gain an increasing share of overall MLP profits. We seek investments that fit our top down strategy and that appear undervalued from a quantitative modeling perspective. Our MLP team attends almost every relevant industry conference, field trip, and analyst meeting. We meet with management teams frequently in an effort to develop differentiated information.

FAMCO is 100% owned by Piper Jaffray Investment Management, Inc. (PJIM), a wholly owned subsidiary of Piper Jaffray Companies. From 1974 through 1994, the founders of FAMCO were the internal asset management arm of General Dynamics Corporation. In 1994, during a broad corporate restructuring, the group elected to outsource its services from General Dynamics and became a federally registered investment advisor. FAMCO continues to function as chief investment officer of the retirement and savings plan assets of General Dynamics.

Our goal is to maximize after-tax total returns utilizing a long-term approach whereby strategy dominates tactics. The Strategy Committee reviews various macroeconomic data to appraise the economic and market cycles. At the research level, we group individual securities by sector, asset class correlation and style, seeking to profit from strategic allocations to groups likely to gain an increasing share of overall MLP profits. We seek investments that fit our top down strategy and that appear undervalued from a quantitative modeling perspective. Our MLP team attends almost every relevant industry conference, field trip, and analyst meeting. We meet with management teams frequently in an effort to develop differentiated information.

Investment Discipline
Our approach to investing begins with a perspective both broad and deep. We combine time-tested investment specialization, extensive industry knowledge and active risk management to seek investment opportunities that we believe will be promising over time. We strive to integrate the best thinking and resources as we pursue balanced diversification for individual and institutional investors.

Service Excellence
We add value to the investing process through expert research, personalized service and comprehensive wealth management solutions. Our organization excels: through our one-to-one relationships with advisers and their clients and our client-centered service approach.

Continuous Innovation
Our products are developed purposefully: to give advisers and investors choice and flexibility in creating quality investment portfolios that match each client's financial goals and risk tolerance. Through product innovation, we strive to offer advisers and their client's investment solutions that help provide an optimal return on their investments over time.

Together, these principles — investment discipline, service excellence, and continuous innovation — help us provide SMARTER WAYS TO BE CONSERVATIVE.