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Clark Capital Management Group Wins InvestmentNews Asset Manager of the Year and Excellence in Philanthropy and Community Service Awards

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PHILADELPHIA, June 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Clark Capital Management Group, an asset manager founded in 1986, earned two top honors at the InvestmentNews Awards in New York City: The Prudential Advisors Award for Asset Manager of the Year and the Thrivent Award for Excellence in Philanthropy and Community Service. The wins, earned alongside the largest asset and wealth managers in the business, speak to both the firm’s investment excellence and the values at the heart of its culture.

“What strikes me most about winning both of these awards is how together they capture who we are, not just how we execute professionally, but how we show up for others,” said Brendan Clark, CEO. “This is a remarkable pairing. We are committed to putting clients first and delivering asset management excellence, while also building a culture of care that supports our communities and the causes we believe in. I’m incredibly proud of our team and grateful for everything they do every single day.”

The Prudential Advisors Award for Asset Manager of the Year award recognizes Clark Capital’s sustained excellence in investment management, advisor partnership, and client outcomes. The firm’s unique blend of solutions-based investment strategies delivered through a dedicated high net worth services team has earned the trust of advisors and investors navigating both complex market environments and complex financial planning situations.

The Thrivent Award for Excellence in Philanthropy and Community Service award underscores Clark Capital’s long-standing commitment to giving back. Each month, guided by employee and partner input, Clark Capital identifies a nonprofit for employees to support through giving and volunteerism, with matching contributions amplifying the firm’s collective impact. Over the past year alone, Clark Capital employees have supported 17 nonprofits through these efforts. Clark Capital also has longstanding community partnerships with Philadelphia Financial Scholars and SquashSmarts, two organizations that help Philadelphia students and their families in a variety of ways.

These InvestmentNews honors build on Clark Capital’s recent recognition as one of the Philadelphia Business Journal’s Best Places to Work for eight consecutive years and its four-time MMI/Barron’s Asset Manager of the Year accolades.

For a full list of this year’s InvestmentNews Awards honorees, visit the InvestmentNews Awards recognition page.

About Clark Capital Management Group, Inc.
Clark Capital Management Group, Inc. is an independent boutique investment manager within Raymond James Investment Management providing institutional investment strategies for individual investors, corporations, foundations, and retirement plans. The firm was founded in 1986 by Harry Clark, Executive Chairman, and has been entrusted with over $45.8 billion in discretionary assets under management and non-discretionary assets as of March 31, 2026.

Our investment philosophy is driven by a single-minded focus: to add value for our collective clients. This focus enables us to seek risk-adjusted returns over full market cycles through a disciplined process focused on three principles: meaningful diversification, opportunistic asset allocation, and personalized risk management. It compels us to maintain a long-term perspective and provide innovative investment management strategies that enable advisors to help clients achieve their goals and objectives.

The Prudential Advisors Award for Asset Manager of the Year

This award recognizes the outstanding asset management firm which consistently delivers superior advisor service while pushing the boundaries with innovation and industry best practices over the past 12 months. 

When judging this category, the following criteria were considered: Effective client relationship management strategies and stakeholder engagement. Demonstration of innovative strategies & ability to educate advisors on the value to their clients of these products. Administration or technology solutions where strategic thinking, collaboration and excellence have made a key impact with advisors. Sustained effort and commitment to the advisor channel. Corporate social responsibility, diversity and inclusion, and responsible investment (SRI) initiatives are all considered.

The Thrivent Award for Excellence in Philanthropy and Community Service

This award recognizes the advisor or advisory team whose outstanding contribution of time, leadership and financial support over a sustained period of time, beyond normal expectations, has made significant impacts in the receiving causes or communities.

When judging this category, the following criteria were considered: Demonstration of major philanthropic and community service programs or initiatives over the last 12 months that align with broader corporate goals or strategies (i.e. company culture, employee engagement etc.). Impact on local, national, or international causes or communities. Overall commitment to philanthropy and community service. Testimonials from beneficiaries or partners.

InvestmentNews opened nominations to all wealth management professionals and organizations. All submissions from the excellence awardees were forwarded to the independent judging panel comprising industry leaders and senior representatives. The panel votes for winners in each category according to the relevant category criteria. Voting commenced in May 2026 and the award covers the previous 12 -18 months. Using a simple points system to aggregate judges’ votes, the excellence awardee with the top score in a category were named the winner. The winners were announced at the awards show on June 24, 2026. More information regarding the selection process and criteria can be found at https://investmentnewsawards.com/process. No compensation was provided by Clark Capital Management Group to obtain these awards.

MMI/Barron’s Industry Awards
Clark Capital was a Money Management Institute and Barron’s finalists for Asset Manager of the Year ($25 – $100 billion category) in 2022 and 2024. Finalists were selected by a specially appointed MMI Industry Awards Steering Council and the MMI Membership Experience Committee (MEC). The Steering Council and MEC reviewed nominations and determined a slate of finalists in each award category based on criteria related to level of innovation, potential to effect change in the investment advisory industry, advancement of practices and protocols and potential to deliver improved outcomes for advisors and investors. Award winners were determined by a vote of primary contacts at each member firm. MMI/Barron’s does not receive compensation for the participating firms in exchange for the award and Clark Capital did not pay a fee to MMI/Barron’s in exchange for its receipt of the award. These awards are not indicative of Clark Capital’s future performance, nor may it be representative of any one client’s experience. Prior awards and recognition received in 2021 and 2020 were for Asset Manager of the Year (AUM of $10 to 50 billion category). More information about the selection process and criteria can be found at www.mminst.org.

Philadelphia Business Journal’s Best Places to Work
The Best Places to Work survey measures key areas that make up an organization’s culture. These range from compensation and benefits to trust in senior leadership. The survey also measures the level of engagement exhibited by employees, known as employee engagement. Each question on the Best Places to Work survey is associated with a response option; each response option is associated with a numerical value. The survey uses these numerical values to profile employees and calculate an overall score, which is used to determine each organization’s rank.

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SOURCE Clark Capital Management Group

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Tuya Smart Unveils Doova at IFA 2026, an AI Home Companion Robot Designed to Support Independently Living Seniors

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BERLIN, Sept. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Tuya Smart (NYSE: TUYA; HKEX: 2391), a global AI cloud platform service provider, today unveiled Doova, its new AI home companion robot, at IFA 2026. Designed for seniors living alone, Doova moves beyond the traditional roles of security devices and household robots, combining proactive safety protection, emotionally intelligent companionship, and seamless smart home coordination to support a safer, more connected, and more comfortable daily life.

For many seniors living independently, the greatest concern is not simply an accident itself, but the time that passes before anyone realizes something is wrong.

Doova is equipped with LDS LiDAR, a four-microphone sound source localization system, and AI vision-based skeletal recognition algorithms. If a user falls or encounters another emergency, they can call out, “Hey Tuya, help,” and Doova will quickly locate the user, move to their side, and assess the situation in real time.

If no response is detected within 60 seconds, Doova automatically initiates an emergency response workflow, sending a two-way live video call alert to family members so assistance can be arranged without delay.

An AI Companion for Everyday Life

Doova combines emotional companionship, daily assistance, and wellness support in a single AI-powered home companion designed specifically for older adults. Its conversational ability is powered by a multimodal large language model, allowing it to hold natural, free-flowing conversations rather than respond only to fixed commands.

During quiet moments at home, Doova can hold conversations, offer company, and play entertainment content to ease feelings of loneliness. In day-to-day life, it can help interpret complex bills and letters, identify potential scam risks, and guide users through operating smart appliances. For health and routine management, Doova can provide reminders for medication, weather updates, and schedules, while also engaging users with light interactive games.

Over time, Doova learns user preferences and becomes more personally helpful in everyday areas such as meal suggestions, gardening advice, and outfit recommendations. In the future, Tuya also plans to introduce value-added services including autonomous item-finding throughout the home, helping reduce anxiety around misplaced belongings.

Smarter In-Home Monitoring for Greater Peace of Mind

When users are away from home, Doova helps make home monitoring simpler and less intrusive.

Unlike conventional patrol-style security devices that follow walls in fixed routes and can feel like overt surveillance, Doova uses a node-oriented coverage strategy designed around the center of each room. It can move from space to space on a dual-wheel drive with caster wheels, perform a 360-degree scan at each location, and automatically generate a safety report that is delivered to the user’s mobile phone, making it easier to stay informed about conditions throughout the home from anywhere. Doova also supports autonomous docking and recharging, so monitoring continues without day-to-day intervention.

A Gentle Smart Home Hub Built for Daily Living

Powered by Tuya’s mature AIoT ecosystem, Doova also serves as a central smart home control hub. With simple voice commands, users can coordinate connected devices across the home, including lighting, curtains, kitchen appliances, and bathroom devices, without complicated setup or operations, lowering the barrier to smart living for seniors.

Doova is also designed to feel like a natural part of the household rather than a piece of equipment. Its soft, curved form moves away from the cold, mechanical look often associated with robots, allowing it to blend more naturally into living spaces. The device height is optimized for interaction whether a user is standing, seated, or reclining, while a 10.1-inch high-definition display and dynamic facial expressions make conversations feel warmer and more engaging.

Doova has drawn strong interest from attendees at IFA 2026, reflecting growing demand for AI solutions that support independent living. With Doova, Tuya continues to extend its AI+IoT ecosystem into new areas of daily life, bringing safety, companionship, and connected living together for seniors who choose to age independently.

About Tuya Smart

Tuya Inc. (NYSE: TUYA; HKEX: 2391) is a leading global AI cloud platform service provider dedicated to bringing AI into everyday life. Through its TuyaOpen open-source development framework and universal AI Agent engines, including the AI Agent development platform, Tuya integrates multimodal AI capabilities to lower barriers for AI development, efficiently advancing the realization of AI-driven lifestyles and accelerating AI integration with the physical world. Tuya offers innovative physical AI solutions for smart devices, commercial applications, and industry developers through its cloud computing and spatial intelligence capabilities. It also provides a complete, open, and neutral global AIoT ecosystem.

As of June 30, 2026, the Tuya AI Developer Platform had over 2,092,000 registered AI developers from more than 200 countries and regions.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tuya-smart-unveils-doova-at-ifa-2026-an-ai-home-companion-robot-designed-to-support-independently-living-seniors-302870623.html

SOURCE Tuya Smart

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NonPublic delivers over 10x return on SpaceX investments for early investors

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Private markets technology investment platform NonPublic delivered over a 10x return to early investors, after they saw SpaceX’s valuation soar to a peak of 2.6 trillion following the biggest IPO in history.

SYDNEY, Sept. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Private markets technology investment platform NonPublic has delivered over a 10x return to early investors, after they saw SpaceX’s valuation soar to a peak of 2.6 trillion following the biggest IPO in history.

“What this outcome illustrates is that the most significant growth in today’s leading technology companies increasingly belongs to private market investors. Most of the money is made before the bell rings, and as companies stay private for longer, that window only widens.”

The NonPublic Group ran 14 vehicles across SpaceX, and xAI which merged into SpaceX, growing US $4.4 million of investor capital into around US$16 million at the IPO price and US$24 million at the June peak, before fees.

SpaceX stock surged 67 percent above its IPO valuation within days of listing, and total market cap still currently sits at over US $2 trillion, but the vast majority of investor returns were realised well before the public markets were granted access.

Direct access to US private placements like these has historically required Australian investors to hold US SEC accreditation or qualified purchaser status, leverage a US-licensed broker, and commit a minimum of US$1 to 5 million per deal.

These requirements are operationally and legally impractical for most eligible Australian investors to meet directly, however NonPublic gave eligible wholesale Australian investors access to the deal by pooling funds through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV).

This access was critical given SpaceX remained private for 24 years accruing value before listing, as the average time from founding to IPO for major US technology companies has grown from around four years in the early 2000s to 12 years today.

SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 on 7 July. NonPublic believes its investors already captured the bulk of the company’s value creation before public markets opened.

Milan Reinartz, founder and CEO at NonPublic, said: “When we first accessed SpaceX in 2021 at a US$108 billion valuation, many people thought the ceiling was closed. They missed what Starlink represented as a commercial engine, and the long-term mission that gives SpaceX a purpose no competitor can replicate.

“What this outcome illustrates is that the most significant growth in today’s leading technology companies increasingly belongs to private market investors. Most of the money is made before the bell rings, and as companies stay private for longer, that window only widens.

“For eligible Australian wholesale investors, that opportunity has historically been out of reach. Our goal is to provide access to these companies at transparent fee structures through familiar Australian structures, while being clear that disciplined diversification across a portfolio is how investors manage the genuine risks of this asset class.”

Please contact Priyanka Dogra for any interview requests: 0410 593 587

NonPublic (www.nonpublic.com) is an Australian-licensed investment platform providing sophisticated/accredited and professional investors with curated access to exclusive pre-IPO and private market opportunities, with a focus on leading US technology companies. Through a transparent, technology-enabled platform, NonPublic connects investors with high-growth private companies, secondary transactions, and alternative investment opportunities that have traditionally been difficult to access.

NonPublic Pty Ltd holds Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) 482668.

Media Contact

Priyanka Dogra, NonPublic, 61 0410593587, priyanka@thirdhemisphere.agency, https://nonpublic.com/

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prweb.com/releases/nonpublic-delivers-over-10x-return-on-spacex-investments-for-early-investors-302868905.html

SOURCE NonPublic

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CHiQ Wins AI Home Ecosystem Brand Award, Exploring New Smart Living Experiences Through AI Innovation

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BERLIN, Sept. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — CHiQ, a global smart home brand, received the AI Home Ecosystem Brand Award at IFA 2026 in recognition of its continued innovation in AI technology and smart home ecosystems. The award further highlights CHiQ’s pioneering work in AI-powered smart homes and its ongoing efforts to enhance the user experience through technological breakthrough.

Presented jointly by IDG and IFA, the award is one of the technology innovation honors closely watched by the global consumer electronics and home appliance industry during IFA. It recognizes notable advances in cutting-edge AI technology across the sector, with a focus on practical innovations and applications that contribute to industry development.

“Receiving the AI Home Ecosystem Brand Award is a recognition of CHiQ’s continued exploration of AI-powered smart homes,” said Vinson Fan, Deputy General Manager of Changhong International Brand Business Center. “The value of AI should be reflected not only in the smart features of individual products, but also in understanding users’ needs and enabling different devices and scenarios to work together naturally. CHiQ will continue to deepen the integration of AI into everyday home life, making smart home technology more responsive to users and delivering more convenient, intuitive and personalized experiences to consumers worldwide.”

At this year’s IFA, CHiQ unveiled a range of flagship AI-powered smart home products across key categories, including TVs, refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners. The RGB MiniLED AI TV features an AI Sports Platform that expands opportunities for exercising at home, while the AI refrigerator uses AI-powered precision control technology to improve food preservation. The washing machines and air conditioners employ intelligent sensing to further optimize garment care and indoor climate control.

Beyond its products, CHiQ continues to explore the intersection of technology, culture and lifestyle. The brand has incorporated panda-inspired elements into its AI interactions to engage users in a more approachable way. Through sports partnerships such as the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup, CHiQ is also connecting its brand with sports and lifestyles familiar to European consumers, further strengthening its localized brand presence.

In recent years, CHiQ has continued to advance the development and application of AI technology, extending its AI capabilities from individual products to a broader range of home appliances and everyday scenarios while steadily strengthening its technological and product innovation capabilities. Building on this award, CHiQ will further expand the role of AI in everyday home life. Through a more open ecosystem and continued technological development, the brand aims to strengthen its global presence and bring more personalized smart living experiences to consumers worldwide.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/chiq-wins-ai-home-ecosystem-brand-award-exploring-new-smart-living-experiences-through-ai-innovation-302870186.html

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