U.S. Investment Policy Committee Notes July 26, 2017

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1 U.S. Investment Policy Committee Notes July 26, 2017 Economic and Stock Market Outlooks Overall Outlook Like spectators filing out of a lopsided ball game before its conclusion, investors are already chalking up Q2 as the 22nd consecutive quarter in which actual earnings exceeded beginning-of-quarter estimates. Thus far, with fewer than 40% of the companies in the S&P having reported results, Q2 EPS are seen rising 8.1%, year on year, nearly 200 basis points above the initial growth estimate of 6.2%, with 72% having beaten on the top line and 76% exceeding in the bottom line. As a result, the ability of stronger-than-expected Q2 EPS to move the market is subsiding, and will likely be replaced by expectations for an improvement in the pace of U.S. economic growth, encouraged by recent upside July surprises for both consumer confidence and the Richmond Fed, as well as expected gains for Durable Orders and Q2 GDP, but tempered by housing weakness. Economic Update The FOMC held rates steady and gave no firm date on the balance sheet unwind. However, the policy statement did indicate that the run-off will begin "relatively soon," versus this year in the June statement. According to Action Economics (AE), there was one subtle shift in the Fed's statement, which edited out the word "recently" from the June statement where it referred to the slide in inflation pressures. That suggests to AE that the FOMC may be increasingly worried by the weakening in prices, as Fed Chair Yellen hinted at during her Humphrey Hawkins testimony where she hedged the general Fed view of a transitory inflation undershoot. The resulting move in Fed funds futures reflected the dovish response to today's FOMC statement and continues to show reduced odds for another rate hike this year. Fundamental Update S&P Dow Jones Indices recently reported that for companies in the S&P 500 with full reporting information for 2016, the percentage of sales from foreign countries decreased to 43.2%, a level last seen in 2003, from 44.3% for 2015, 47.8% for 2014 and the 46% average from Asia is now the dominant region, accounting for 8.46% of all S&P 500 sales, up from 6.77% for European sales increased to 8.13% in 2016 from 7.79% for The U.K., which is part of European sales, declined to 1.10% in 2016 after last year's increase to 1.86%. Energy continued to have the highest foreign sales percentage within the S&P 500 at 58.88%, up from 57.88% for 2015, while Information Technology remained in second place with 57.15% versus 57.78% for Telecommunications Services had the smallest foreign sector exposure at 17.43%. Technical Update The S&P 500 (SPX), Nasdaq-100 (NDX), and Russell 2000 (RUT) all remain in a bullish position, with their larger-degree uptrend firmly intact. The SPX continues to climb and remains bullish with support established at on any pullback. The NDX has broken above the prior 5897 high (which has now become nearby support) and the bias remains bullish. On any pullback, supports are at 5818 and The RUT has pushed into new high territory, and the bias remains bullish. Support on any pullback is established at In addition, this is the broadest buying support in this rally leg over the last 11 months and signals that new highs are sustainable. Finally, the U.S. Dollar index continues to drop and the bias remains bearish. The next lower targets are at and Recommended Moderate Allocation 2 0 % Foreign Eq uities 2 5 % Bonds S&P 500 EPS changes as of 07/26/17 EPS Growth % S&P 500 Sector Q Q3 2017e 2017e 2018e Cons Disc (1.6) Cons Staples Energy Financials Health Care Industrials (0.9) Info Tech Materials Real Estate Telecom Svcs 5.3 (0.6) (1.0) 2.2 Utilities (8.0) 1.0 (1.1) 5.9 S&P Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence Targets 4 5 % U.S. Eq uities 1 0 % Cash 12-Month S&P 500:2540 S&P 500 EPS 2017E:$130.06, 18E:$ S&P 500 Revenues 2017E:+6.1%, 18E:+4.9% Real GDP Growth Avg. 2017E:+2.3%, 18E:+2.6% Core PCE Avg. 2017E:1.4%, 18E:1.7% Fed Funds Rate Avg. 2017E:0.98%, 18E:1.85% 10-Year T-Note Avg. 2017E:2.45%, 18E:2.99% Exchange Rate 2017E:91.7, 18E:90.1 WTI/bbl. Avg. 2017E:$48.69, 18E:$48.77 S&P 500 GICS Sector Performance and Recommended Sector Weightings % Change S&P 500 Sector P/E on '18e Jul YTD 2016 EPS '18e P/E to Proj. 5-Yr. EPS Grth. Sector % Weightings Sector Emphasis 7/25/2017 Over/Under Weight Consumer Discretionary Marketweight 0.0 Consumer Staples Underweight -1.5 Energy 1.3 (12.7) Marketweight 0.0 Financials Marketweight 0.0 Health Care (4.4) Marketweight 0.0 Industrials Overweight 1.5 Information Technology Marketweight 0.0 Materials Overweight 0.5 Real Estate Underweight -0.5 Telecommunication Services (2.9) (15.3) Marketweight 0.0 Utilities Marketweight 0.0 S&P Composite S&P S&P MidCap S&P SmallCap Sector recommendations are market-cap weighted, influenced by economic,fundamental and technical considerations Technical commentary contributed by i10 Research. Please read the Disclosures from page 2 onwards of this report. 1

2 Glossary STARS Since January 1, 1987, CFRA Equity and Fund Research Services, and its predecessor S&P Capital IQ Equity Research has ranked a universe of U.S. common stocks, ADRs (American Depositary Receipts), and ADSs (American Depositary Shares) based on a given equity's potential for future performance. Similarly, we have ranked Asian and European equities since June 30, Under proprietary STARS (STock Appreciation Ranking System), equity analysts rank equities according to their individual forecast of an equity's future total return potential versus the expected total return of a relevant benchmark (e.g., a regional index (S&P Asia 50 Index, S&P Europe 350 Index or S&P 500 Index)), based on a 12-month time horizon. STARS was designed to meet the needs of investors looking to put their investment decisions in perspective. Data used to assist in determining the STARS ranking may be the result of the analyst's own models as well as internal proprietary models resulting from dynamic data inputs. S&P Capital IQ Quality Ranking (also known as S&P Capital IQ Earnings & Dividend Rankings) - Growth and stability of earnings and dividends are deemed key elements in establishing S&P Capital IQ's earnings and dividend rankings for common stocks, which are designed to capsulize the nature of this record in a single symbol. It should be noted, however, that the process also takes into consideration certain adjustments and modifications deemed desirable in establishing such rankings. The final score for each stock is measured against a scoring matrix determined by analysis of the scores of a large and representative sample of stocks. The range of scores in the array of this sample has been aligned with the following ladder of rankings: A+ Highest B Below Average A High B- Lower A- Above Average C Lowest B+ Average D In Reorganization NR Not Ranked EPS Estimates CFRA s earnings per share (EPS) estimates reflect analyst projections of future EPS from continuing operations, and generally exclude various items that are viewed as special, non-recurring, or extraordinary. Also, EPS estimates reflect either forecasts of equity analysts; or, the consensus (average) EPS estimate, which are independently compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, a data provider to CFRA. Among the items typically excluded from EPS estimates are asset sale gains; impairment, restructuring or merger-related charges; legal and insurance settlements; in process research and development expenses; gains or losses on the extinguishment of debt; the cumulative effect of accounting changes; and earnings related to operations that have been classified by the company as discontinued. The inclusion of some items, such as stock option expense and recurring types of other charges, may vary, and depend on such factors as industry practice, analyst judgment, and the extent to which some types of data is disclosed by companies. Core Earnings Core Earnings is a uniform methodology for adjusting operating earnings by focusing on a company's after-tax earnings generated from its principal businesses. 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Abbreviations Used in Equity Research Reports CAGR - Compound Annual Growth Rate CAPEX - Capital Expenditures CY - Calendar Year DCF - Discounted Cash Flow DDM - Dividend Discount Model EBIT - Earnings Before Interest and Taxes EBITDA - Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization EPS - Earnings Per Share EV - Enterprise Value FCF - Free Cash Flow FFO - Funds From Operations FY - Fiscal Year P/E - Price/Earnings P/NAV - Price to Net Asset Value PEG Ratio - P/E-to- Growth Ratio PV - Present Value R&D - Research & Development ROCE - Return on Capital Employed ROE - Return on Equity ROI - Return on Investment ROIC - Return on Invested Capital ROA - Return on Assets SG&A - Selling, General & Administrative Expenses SOTP - Sum-of-The-Parts WACC - Weighted Average Cost of Capital Dividends on American Depository Receipts (ADRs) and American Depository Shares (ADSs) are net of taxes (paid in the country of origin). 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3 an ongoing concern. The Qualitative Risk Assessment is a relative ranking to the U.S. STARS universe, and should be reflective of risk factors related to a company's operations, as opposed to risk and volatility measures associated with share prices. For an ETF this reflects on a capitalizationweighted basis, the average qualitative risk assessment assigned to holdings of the fund. STARS Ranking system and definition: 5-STARS (Strong Buy): Total return is expected to outperform the total return of a relevant benchmark, by a wide margin over the coming 12 months, with shares rising in price on an absolute basis. 4-STARS (Buy): Total return is expected to outperform the total return of a relevant benchmark over the coming 12 months, with shares rising in price on an absolute basis. 3-STARS (Hold): Total return is expected to closely approximate the total return of a relevant benchmark over the coming 12 months, with shares generally rising in price on an absolute basis. 2-STARS (Sell): Total return is expected to underperform the total return of a relevant benchmark over the coming 12 months, and the share price not anticipated to show a gain. 1-STAR (Strong Sell): Total return is expected to underperform the total return of a relevant benchmark by a wide margin over the coming 12 months, with shares falling in price on an absolute basis. Relevant benchmarks: In North America, the relevant benchmark is the S&P 500 Index, in Europe and in Asia, the relevant benchmarks are the S&P Europe 350 Index and the S&P Asia 50 Index, respectively. Disclosures S&P GLOBAL is used under license. The owner of this trademark is S&P Global Inc. or its affiliate, which are not affiliated with CFRA or the author of this content. Stocks are ranked in accordance with the following ranking methodologies: STARS Stock Reports: Qualitative STARS recommendations are determined and assigned by equity analysts. For reports containing STARS recommendations refer to the Glossary section of the report for detailed methodology and the definition of STARS rankings. Quantitative Stock Reports: Quantitative recommendations are determined by ranking a universe of common stocks based on 5 measures or model categories: Valuation, Quality, Growth, Street Sentiment, and Price Momentum. In the U.S., a sixth sub-category for Financial Health will also be displayed. Percentile scores are used to compare each company to all other companies in the same universe for each model category. The five (six) model category scores are then weighted and rolled up into a single percentile ranking for that company. For reports containing quantitative recommendations refer to the Glossary section of the report for detailed methodology and the definition of Quantitative rankings. STARS Stock Reports and Quantitative Stock Reports: The methodologies used in STARS Stock Reports and Quantitative Stock Reports (collectively, the "Research Reports") reflect different criteria, assumptions and analytical methods and may have differing recommendations. The methodologies and data used to generate the different types of Research Reports are believed by the author and distributor reasonable and appropriate. Generally, CFRA does not generate reports with different ranking methodologies for the same issuer. However, in the event that different methodologies or data are used on the analysis of an issuer, the methodologies may lead to different views or recommendations on the issuer, which may at times result in contradicting assessments of an issuer. CFRA reserves the right to alter, replace or vary models, methodologies or assumptions from time to time and without notice to clients. STARS Stock Reports: Global STARS Distribution as of June 30, 2017 Ranking North Europe Asia Global America Buy 37.4% 25.9% 36.6% 35.4% Hold 55.1% 56.1% 39.4% 53.5% Sell 7.5% 18.0% 24.0% 11.1% Total 100% 100% 100% 100% Analyst Certification STARS Stock Reports are prepared by the equity research analysts of CFRA and S&P Malaysia, under contract to CFRA. All of the views expressed in STARS 3

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