[MUSIC PLAYING] I'm Mark Ferguson, Global Head of Research at JP Morgan Asset Management. As Paul has already mentioned, we have a deep commitment to fundamental research. This commitment dates back to the 1980s. And we see it as a key competitive advantage.

Our annual research budget is $150 million. And we have more than 80 senior analysts in seven main locations around the world. These analysts have an average of 18 years industry experience and between them cover over 2 and 1/2 thousand companies.

JP Morgan Asset Management structures the research analyst role as a career and not as a stepping stone to portfolio management. As such, our analysts receive the same recognition given to portfolio managers and are compensated accordingly.

Another key advantage of our scale is the global network. Analysts work closely with their regional counterparts, gaining a truly global and unified perspective on the industries they cover. Crucially, we have a harmonized research process for all of the 2 and 1/2 thousand stocks we cover globally, which greatly enhances the investment dialogue and comparability.

This process emphasizes a deep understanding of corporate quality, including ESG considerations, a thorough assessment of risks, and a disciplined common valuation framework anchored around longer-term forecasting of cash flows. It is this combination of scale, experience, quality, and long-term focus that allows us to generate the insights that add value for our clients.

Hi, my name is Leslie Rich. And I'm a senior research analyst in the US equity group covering electric utilities. I would like to highlight what I believe makes the culture of our equities business unique, the power of the global research team. And I don't say this simply because of the number of analysts that we have around the world or the experience level of my colleagues. I say this because of the significant collaboration between the research analysts in different industries and across geographies.

And this allows us to take a step back, rigorously discuss cross-sector trends, and evolve our investment thesis as conditions change. We then share those ideas collaboratively with the portfolio managers across the entire global complex so that implications for all sectors and stocks can be considered.

One example of this is the electrification of transportation. That ties in the global analysts looking at utilities, transportation, basic materials, and technology. We compare forecasts, meet with industry experts, and discuss what we're hearing on the ground from the hundreds of companies that we cover. This enables us to build a robust framework and context for stock selection and performance.

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