We believe that a flexible and opportunistic approach to investing must be maintained. It is our opinion that rigid adherence to any particular style of investing - whether value, growth or momentum, among others - is invariably restrictive. Rather, we operate from a style, which avails itself of the richness of a variety of investment philosophies and techniques that will ultimately provide superior returns while exposing a particular partnership to lesser risk. Such a flexible style of investing relies to a much higher degree on the general analytic skills, involvement and good market judgment.

As such, it is believed that privately held companies exhibit lower valuations as compared to publicly traded companies, and that securities prices of public companies in general are a discounting mechanism for future expectations. Therefore, in order to anticipate changes in value, it is important to understand the nature of the expectations embodied in current values.

To the extent that the nature and level of expectations is often set in large measure by Wall Street, we believe it is important to maintain a close relationship with the investment banking, private equity and brokerage community.

· Private equity investments have a very low correlation to the U.S. public equity markets simply due to the nature of private placement investing. Investments are not priced on a daily basis and they come with provisions designed to limit risk and hedge returns.

In selecting investments, we will seek those situations where there is a significant gap between the perceptions of the marketplace and economic reality. Ideally, an investment will display one or more of the following attributes:

· Senior management possessing ownership, drive and exhibiting past success

· Unique market niche within sizable industry

· Owners who share the same vision and work standards as we do.

· Owners who share the same wealth building goals and exit strategy as we do.

· Priced attractively relative to future earnings power, book value or cash flow;

· Valued or trading toward the lower end of its historical range; in the case of public companies;

· Priced attractively relative to comparable companies;

· Its secular earnings power is understated as a result of extrapolation of immediate past results;

· The "quality" of its earnings is rising, as evidenced by higher levels of cash flow, more conservative accounting, or a strengthening balance sheet; or

· There are identifiable catalysts that will cause its price to rise, such as management changes, new long-term customers, financial restructuring, better-than-expected industry earnings, increased brokerage sponsorship in the case of public companies.

For the institutional investor, we provide both value and growth investment styles across various equity capitalization ranges. In addition, we offer balanced, international investments.

We invest in companies with attractive opportunities to grow revenues and increase profits, then works hand in hand with effective management teams to drive dramatic performance improvements and generate superior investment returns.

This strategy fits well with the changes in today's private equity world characterized by full valuations, abundant capital competing for deals, and limited opportunities for leverage. In such a world, returns based primarily on financial engineering and multiple expansions are likely to be greatly reduced in comparison to recent history. More than ever, returns will be driven by the ability to drive real value through growth in sales and improved profitability.

We are able to generate superior returns because of our unique approach of disciplined focus on the attractive and underserved markets. Our primary investment strategy is to invest in growth-oriented opportunities, with a secondary focus on companies offering modest growth but substantial profit improvement potential. We seek investment opportunities where our strategic and operational skills and intellectual capital will increase the probability of achieving attractive investment returns.

We evaluate potential investments by analyzing the financial performance of the company, the attractiveness of its industry, and its competitive position within that industry.

Working closely with management, our professionals carry out extensive, detailed evaluations of potential investments to identify areas where a company's growth and profits could be enhanced. Growth opportunities include developing new strategies, acquiring related companies, or launching new products.

Our collective and highly specialized expertise enables us to investigate and understand prospective new investment opportunities in a timely manner, and allows us to add significant strategic and operational value to our portfolio companies.

We aim to acquire companies that have sound underlying businesses, and offer opportunities for profit improvement by reducing costs, strengthening the management team, eliminating unprofitable product lines or undertaking other strategic initiatives. By investing in the industries where we have significant expertise, we can address these challenges prudently.

This strategy fits well with the changes in today's private equity world characterized by full valuations, abundant capital competing for deals, and limited opportunities for leverage. In such a world, returns based primarily on financial engineering and multiple expansions are likely to be greatly reduced in comparison to recent history. More than ever, returns will be driven by the ability to drive real value through growth in sales and improved profitability.

In the buyout area, we take a conservative approach to investing, exercising intensive due diligence and seeking purchase prices that are lower than average multiples of earnings in the industry sectors we target. We steer away from auctions and competitive bidding, instead creating investment opportunities through industry relationships and our own platform of investments. In addition, we have an established track record of acquisition joint ventures with corporate strategic partners and have sought to add value to our portfolio companies by working closely with management and by using our knowledge of a particular industry to oversee and facilitate effective operating and financial strategies.

Our first priority when we partner with a company is to understand its growth prospects and goals. Working with management, we then design a capital structure and equity incentives that will encourage the company to achieve these goals.