Standard and Poor's

Deven Sharma was named president of Standard & Poor's in August 2007. Standard & Poor's, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, is the world's foremost provider of financial market intelligence, including independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research and data. With approximately 8,500 employees, including wholly owned affiliates, located in 21 countries, Standard & Poor's is an essential part of the world's financial infrastructure and has played a leading role for more than 140 years in providing investors with the independent benchmarks they need to feel more confident about their investment and financial decisions. Prior to being named president, Deven served as executive vice president, Standard & Poor’s, where he was responsible for Investment Services and Global Sales. The businesses include Investment Data & Information, Research and Portfolio services. Prior to this, he spent five years as executive vice president, Global Strategy for The McGraw-Hill Companies, where he led the expansion into digital markets, geographies and new growth areas, as well as acquisitions. He also oversaw McGraw-Hill Ventures. Deven joined The McGraw-Hill Companies in January 2002 from Booz Allen Hamilton, a global management consulting company, where he was a partner. During his 14 years with that firm, he provided guidance to client companies on business strategy and globalization, as well as on branding and sales management. Much of his experience includes work with global corporations in U.S., Latin America, Europe and parts of Asia. Prior to Booz Allen, Deven worked with manufacturing companies, Dresser Industries and Anderson Strathclyde. Deven holds a bachelor's degree from the Birla Institute of Technology in India, a master's degree from the University of Wisconsin and a doctoral degree in Business Management from Ohio State University. Deven has authored several publications on competitive strategy, customer solutions, sales and marketing. He is a Board member of CRISIL, The US-China Business Council and Asia Society Business Council.

As chief investment strategist at Standard & Poor's, Sam Stovall serves as analyst, publisher and communicator of S&P's outlooks for the economy, market, sectors and stocks. He is a member of the S&P Investment Policy Committee, where he focuses on market history and valuations, as well as sector and industry recommendations. Sam is also the author of The Standard & Poor's Guide to Sector Investing and "Stovall's Sector Watch," a page on businessweek.com, that identifies sector top-outs and turnarounds. Sam joined Standard & Poor's (S&P) in April 1989. Prior to S&P, he served Editor In Chief at Argus Research, an independent investment research firm in New York City. He is a Certified Financial Planner.

Phil Edwards is Managing Director, Standard & Poor's Portfolio Advisor Services where he is responsible for leading the investment management team and process for S&P's fee-based brokerage business. Under the direction of Mr. Edwards, the S&P investment management team integrates Standard & Poor's funds, stock and index research into actionable model portfolios for investment advisors. Among Mr. Edwards' recent projects is assisting with the development and launch of S&P Portfolio Advisor, an online tool and platform for financial advisors that manages the investment process and enables access to S&P model portfolios and investment advice. He was also instrumental in developing and bringing to market the Standard & Poor's Index vs. Active Scorecards (SPIVA), the first quarterly performance reports of U.S. domestic equity mutual funds benchmarked against corresponding S&P indices. Mr. Edwards has been with Standard & Poor's since 1983, holding various analytic, business development, management and planning positions. Most recently, he led a global team of 70 fund research analysts. .Prior to joining Standard & Poor's, he was a business and planning analyst at EBASCO Services, Inc. Mr. Edwards received both an M.B.A. (1980) and B.S.B.A. (1978) from the University of Florida.