Greetings, and welcome to Rand Capital Corporation’s First Quarter 2019 Financial Results Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A brief question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Deborah Pawlowski, Investor Relations for Rand. Thank you. Please begin.

Thank you, [Roya] (Ph), and good afternoon everyone. We appreciate your time today for Rand’s first quarter financial results conference call. On the line with me are Pete Grum, our Chief Executive Officer; and Dan Penberthy, our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. You should have a copy of the release that crossed the wire this morning as well as the slides that will accompany our conversation today. If not, they are available on our website at www.randcapital.com. If you look at the slide deck and turn to Slide 2, let me point out some important information. As you are likely aware, we may make some Forward-Looking Statements during this presentation and also during the question-and-answer session. These statements apply to future events that are subject to risks and uncertainties as well as other factors that apply to future events that are as well that could cause actual results to differ from where we are today. These risks and uncertainties and other factors are provided in the earnings release, as well as, in other documents filed by the Company with Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition there is additional information related to the page of proxy from shareholders in respect to the proposed transaction. We urge you to read the proxy statement and other materials filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and you could find that information on our website or at sec.gov. So with that, let me turn it over to Pete who is going to summarize the highlights for the quarter and discuss the transformation of Rand, then Dan will follow with more details regarding the financial. Pete.

Good afternoon everyone. Thank you for your time today as we discuss the proposed transaction and update you on our first quarter results. I'm going to start with Slide 3 to platform some of the key developments thus far this year. Most significant event is the filing of our definitive proxy statement and the scheduling of a special meeting of the shareholders, requesting approval for the proposed $25 million investment by East Asset Management. I will cover the proposed transaction more in the next few slides. But also wanted to point out the Rand and the East and the Rand Board of Directors have elected to repeat all stock in the proposed special dividend as a testament to our belief and the potential for the future of Rand following the transaction. As for the quarter, we received $3.5 million from eHealth Global Technologies for the repayment of their loan. As Dan noted in the press release, this is a rather short-term investment for us at less than three years and provided a nice yield. We also had two follow-on investments totaling $650,012. We invested $500,012 in Tilson Technology Management as part of our larger investment by other parties to support their growth. We also have invested $150,000 in KnowledgeVison Systems as they expand their product portfolio. At the end of the quarter, our net asset value or NAV increased to $5.06 per share at the end of March up from $4.99 at the end of December. The increase was driven by the net appreciation of our portfolio investment. Dan will provide further details on those. Investment income almost doubled to 719,000 mostly from the eHealth loan repayment. Excluding the loan repayment, the investment income was up 36%. This quarter we also drew down $2.25 million of our SBA leverage, our…

Thanks Steve and good afternoon everyone. If you could please turn to Slide 15 and I will start with the net asset value per share or NAV. As Pete mentioned, we finished the quarter with net asset value at $5.06 per share. As you can see on the chart NAV did increase $0.07 per share over the trailing quarter. This increase is primarily attributable to a net increase in the valuation of certain of our portfolio investments primarily driven by the appreciation of [indiscernible]. On Slide 16, your next slide is a summary of our operating performance for the first quarter of 2019 and 2018. Investment income increased significantly to $719,000 in the first quarter. This is a 98% increase over the prior year's quarter. The $356,000 increase was primarily related to a $225,000 non-recurring fee income from the eHealth loan repayment. Our first quarter expenses of $690,000 were above $100,000, mostly from professional fees related to the proposed strategic investments by East. Net investment gain before income taxes refers to the difference between our investment income and our expenses. This is prior to changes in valuations of our investment. Our goal is to reach a breakeven level as that line and we are happy to say we achieved that during the quarter. Below that line, the net realized and unrealized gains or losses on investments contributed to the $0.07 increase in the NAV in the first quarter. Now, please turn the Slide 17. And you could see we have a solid balance sheet. It's important to note that of our total cash, only $1.9 million is available for corporate use, while $6.8 million is in our SBIC subsidiary restricted for investments. That also includes the $2.25 million draw we made during the quarter. Our portfolio investments are valued at $5.14 per share at the end of the first quarter. Our portfolio growth has benefited from our past SBA loans. As of the quarter ends, we have $1.74 per share that we owe to the SBA. We also have $0.28 per share of other assets net of liabilities. This comprises our NAV per share of $5.06. So with this Pete, shall we open up the line for questions?

Yes, we should. We are ready for question.

Thank you very much for your time and attention that this afternoon. We are very excited about the proposed investment by you, which we will believe will transform our organization for the benefit of all shareholders. We ask that you vote for the proposals being presented at our special meeting. And again, thank you for your time.

Thank you. This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time and thank you for your participation.