Equity Research Services

Alba Partners, Inc.June 2009

Summary

Alba is a premier, Tokyo-based consultant to foreign investors. We provide independent research that focuses not only on company financials, but also industry structures, the state of the economy, the political climate, the regulatory environment, changes in accounting rules, and other factors that affect equity values.

Alba provides complete access to Japanese companies, including briefings, preparation of questionnaires, interpretation assistance, visits on behalf of clients, and three-party calls.

We have a vast network of contacts in many industries, backed by our long experience in Japanese markets.

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Alba’s Premier Services Access & Analysis

• Company Access and Analysis 4• Accounting and Related Analysis 5• News Monitoring 6• Idea Generation 7• Other Services 8

-financial modeling and updates-stock screening-on demand customized reports

Expert Network & Field Work• Expert Network 9• Field Work 10

About us 11 Appendix 12-14

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Access and Analysis Alba offers in-depth company visits and teleconferences with

managements and IR officers. We have deep, consistent experience in these activities:

In the past three years we have conducted or attended

– 300+ visits and teleconferences– 150+ analyst meetings

Appointments are made through long-standing relationships with Japanese companies, utilizing contacts from former IBJ, Mizuho, and IR professionals.

Our service includes company research prior to visits (with preparation of questions) and translation during the meeting, followed promptly by meeting memos with our remarks/evaluation after the visit/call.

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Accounting and Related Analysis

We provide quick responses to urgent questions from customers.

Our interpretation includes Japanese Accounting Rules, Taxation, and Land Appraisal, etc.

<Service samples> -Description of accounting standards on retirement benefits-Interpretation of new inventory evaluation method-Appraisal of land prices using our database and official land prices-Fair value analysis of security holdings-NAV analysis on stocks, value-per-share analysis-Geographical analysis -- store search and comps study for retailers

=>see appendix for samples

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News Monitoring

We offer updates every day on news and events for our client

portfolios through monitoring and analysis of Nikkei Quick*

access, print media, investor message boards, blogs, and

follow-up calls to the company. * Nikkei’s Quick is highly appreciated by investors in Japanese stocks, but the service is provided only in

Japan.< Examples of news updates>

- Speeches by management in newspapers and magazines- Rumors among Japanese individual investors - News regarding lawsuits- Influence of earthquakes (which are frequent in Japan) on factories- Announcement of share buybacks, management guidance - Major changes in stock ownership

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Idea Generation We provide ideas that focuses not only on company financials,

but also industry structures, the state of the economy, the political climate, the regulatory environment, changes in accounting rules, and other factors that affect equity values.

<One of our innovative ideas>We studied Japanese regulations and their impact on Japanese stocks. This was made possible through our relationship with leading professors in the public policy and political science at University of Tokyo and Gakushuin University. This approach enabled our virtual portfolio to outperform the market from May/08 through Sep/08 by 20%

<Other ideas>- Analysis on regional banks, comparing NPLs, allowances, and loan-to-deposit rates- Cyclicality analysis ~approx. ads 4years, construction machinery 7years, machine tools 13 years - Research into the practices of Japanese wholesalers in industries such as meat, confectionaries, and alcohol. - Supply chain analysis- Urban development, comparing age and ownership of buildings =see appendix- Impact of management guidance, whether bullish or bearish

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Other services

Alba’s offerings also include -financial modeling and updates -stock screening-on demand customized reports

=>Reduces portfolio manager’s burden from labor intensive work

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Expert Network

Alba’s network includes lawyers, CPAs, bureaucrats, doctorsand many senior experts in various industries.< Our contact network extends into the following industries>

-Construction, Steel, Chemical, Retail, Advertising, Pharmaceutical, Chemical, Glass, Construction Machinery, Machine Tool, Land Transportation, Airline, Marine Transportation, Shipping, Media and Communication, Life Insurance,Casualty Insurance, Mega Bank, Regional Bank, Securities, Trust Bank, VentureCapital, Game and Entertainment, and Utilities (Gas, EPCO)

In addition to the active employees and managements, we also utilize the services of retired Japanese staff. These long-time employees have sharp eyes and well-honed instincts, but they are not constrained by the information use rules and

oversight that current employees experience.9

Field Work

Through the use of our cost-efficient and productive part-time investigators and data analysts, Alba provides field work, detective work, and market research.

<Research Samples>

-We interviewed several retailers to get a better understanding of the Wii and NDS inventory levels for our client holding Nintendo stock.-Another project was a price comparison of home appliances to compare several electric retailers.-We also exposed a fraudulent company in our client’s portfolio which later was shown to be involved in criminal activity.

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About us Founder and CEOAska Takeuchi has been providing Japanese equity research to overseas investors since 2006 in a wide variety of industries --

telecommunication, construction, real estate, games & entertainment, machinery, materials, retail, food – and on many small- to mid-size companies. She has more than 11 years’ experience in investment and corporate banking with IBJ and Mizuho Financial Group, which included four years as a credit analyst covering the telecom, machinery, food & beverage, and retail sectors. She also has significant experience as a fund analyst, reviewing and grading the performance of institutional investors as fund managers. Ms. Takeuchi is a graduate of the University of Tokyo and was an intern at McKinsey & Company. She is a Chartered Member of the Security Analysis Association of Japan (CMA).

Senior AnalystToko Sakuta worked at Investor Relations where she met various overseas institutional investors and Accounting divisions at Asahi

Glass Company. She holds a B.A. in economics from the University of Tokyo and an M.B.A. from INSEAD. She is a candidate for Chartered Member of the Security Analysts Association of Japan.

AdvisorsChako Ando Chako Ando has over 10 years of investment banking and capital markets experience. Ms. Ando was a VP in the M&A

department of Daiwa America; manager of a venture capital investment fund for the Industrial Bank of Japan; and a VP of credit control with Sumitomo Bank Capital Markets. Ms. Ando has also been a CFO of an online trading system provider and a consultant for numerous Silicon Valley firms. She is a CFA Charter holder and has passed the Series 65 investment advisor exam. A Tokyo native, Ms. Ando obtained her MBA at Stanford. http://www.chakoando.com/

Bob Schneider is editor of Data Interactive, the Hitachi XBRL blog. He worked in the equity research department of Morgan Stanley for six years, including three years as Supervisory Analyst of the firm’s Tokyo office. As senior analyst and writer for a Tokyo IR firm, he wrote the MD&As for more than 100 annual reports of over 30 companies. He spent two years as an external auditor and is a CPA (inactive status) in the State of New York. Mr. Schneider has passed both the Series16 (supervisory analyst) and Series 65(investment adviser) exams. He holds an MBA from Columbia University in accounting.

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Appendixsample ~analysis on urban land redevelopment

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Appendix Sample ~NAV analysis

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Appendix Sample ~Geographical Analysis

Geographical analysis includes checking the sites/addresses of retail stores, factories, and facilities utilizing our database and measuring competitiveness by analyzing the trend of same-store sales, traffic*ticket, S&B, GOP, rent trends, and other indicators.

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