General Investing >> Money Manager Interviews >> June 14, 2010
Alpana Sen is Fund Manager of the Spirit of America Value Fund and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund. She joined David Lerner Associates on Sept. 29, 2008. Prior to joining David Lerner Associates, Ms. Sen worked at Morgan Stanley Investment Management for approximately 11 years. Her last title held was Vice President in the Quantitative Strategies Group, where she was responsible for fundamental analyses on equity securities. Ms. Sen received her MBA in finance from Pace University in 1997. In addition, she passed the CFA Level I exam and owns the Series 7 license.William Mason is the Executive Vice President of Spirit of America and is responsible for the management of the SOA team. In addition, he has primary responsibility for the day-to-day management of the High Yield Fund. Mr. Mason's career spans 30 years in the municipal bond industry and includes over 20 years with David Lerner Associates, Inc., where he is the Executive Vice President of Fixed Income Trading. He manages trading, underwriting, institutional sales and dealer sales, covering products such as municipal bonds, treasuries, collateralized mortgage obligations, corporate bonds and unit investment trusts. His career began in back-office operations in 1980 at Merrill Lynch, where he stayed until 1983. Mr. Mason then moved to Morgan Stanley, where he was Manager of Trading Operations from 1983 until 1985, when he became an Institutional Trader. In 1988 he left Morgan Stanley and started working at David Lerner Associates, Inc., where he became Head of the Trading Department. Mr. Mason currently serves as a member of the board of directors at David Lerner Associates, Inc. He is also a member of the Municipal Bond Club of New York. Mr. Mason has obtained his General Securities Principal (Series 24), Municipal Securities Principal (Series 53), General Securities Representative (Series 7) and Uniform Securities Agent State Law Examination (Series 63) licenses.
Raymond A. Mathis is Fund Manager of the Spirit of America Real Estate Fund. Mr. Mathis is also Portfolio Adviser of the Spirit of America Value Fund. He joined David Lerner Associates on Nov. 5, 2007. Prior to joining the Adviser, Mr. Mathis was a Securities Analyst with Standard & Poor's from 2001 through 2007, covering the consumer cyclical and consumer staples sectors, in addition to real estate investment trusts. Noted for calling the top of the housing bubble (Credit Week, Sep. 2005), Mr. Mathis has been the recipient of numerous accolades, including the prestigious "Best on the Street" award from 2007 The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Mathis began his experience in commercial real estate management in 1990. He received his MBA from the University of New Orleans in 1998. Profile
TWST: Tell us about David Lerner Associates and your respective responsibilities at the firm.
Mr. Mason: David Lerner Associates was founded in 1976 by David Lerner. He came from a teaching background
