General Investing >> Money Manager Interviews >> January 11, 2010
Luke J. Aucoin is the co-founder of Vista Research and Management and serves as the firm's Chief Operating Officer. He also serves as senior portfolio manager for the Listed Private Equity Plus Fund where he conducts fundamental and macroeconomic research and makes buy and sell decisions for the Fund. Mr. Aucoin previously directed the marketing and distribution of mutual fund and separate account products through financial intermediaries for Al Frank Asset Management. Before joining Al Frank Asset Management, Mr. Aucoin worked in client relationship management with the American Funds Group. Mr. Aucoin earned a BA in Economics from the University of Southern California and an MBA with an emphasis in finance and portfolio management from the University of California at Irvine.Steven R. Samson co-founded Vista Research and Management, LLC (Vista) and serves as its President and Chief Investment Strategist. Mr. Samson is highly recognized as an innovator within the asset management industry and has served as a senior executive in the mutual fund and alternative investment management industry for over 20 years. He also has extensive ezperience in Mergers and Aquisitions. At Vista, Mr. Samson sets global asset allocation strategies for the Listed Private Equity Plus Fund (Ticker: LPEAX) and serves as Chairman of the Firm's Investment Committee. He is also responsible for establishing overall business strategy and building relationships with key distributors that offer Vista's products. Vista is recognized as the nation's leading Registered Investment Advisor dedicated to managing mutual funds focused exclusively on securities of publicly listed Private Equity and related companies traded on stock exchanges around the globe. Prior to forming Vista, Mr. Samson has served as the Chief Executive Officer of Alternative Investment Partners, LLC and Kinetics Asset Management, Inc. and as Chairman of the Board of AIP Mutual Funds, Inc. and Kinetics Mutual Funds, Inc. Mr. Samson also served as Managing Director at Chase Global Asset Management and Mutual Funds, the investment advisor to the Chase Manhattan Bank's family of mutual funds and the Chase Manhattan Vista Funds (offshore). Previously Mr. Samson directed the Mutual Funds Management Group and the UST Master Funds, the family of funds advised by The U.S. Trust Company of New York. Mr. Samson began his career as Senior Economist in the Corporate Economist's Office of American Express Company, and became Director, Corporate Development and Planning where he was a key member of the due diligence and analytics team relating to several high profile acquisitions, including Investors Diversified Services Corp. (now Ameriprise). Mr. Samson earned a Graduate Fellowship in Economics from the City University of New York. He is a frequent contributor to leading investment publications, including Money Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Wealth Manager, Investment Advisor and American Banker. He has also served on the Investment Company Institute's (ICI) Research and International Committees. Profile
TWST: Would you start with an overview of Vista Research and Management and then perhaps you can lead into the Listed Private Equity Plus Fund?
Mr. Samson: The history of the firm dates back to
