Key Altegris Investments Team Members

The Alternative Investments industry is complex, and can be a difficult environment to work in. Finding the right individuals to help you with your investment choices can be just as difficult. The Altegris team contains the experience, training and knowledge that the industry requires, but just as importantly, takes a flexible approach to how we work with you.

Team Member Biographies

Laura Pyle - Chief of Staff
Ms. Pyle brings 16 years of experience in strategic planning and new business development to Altegris. She was previously a Senior Vice President and Director of Operations for a West Coast multi-strategy fund of hedge funds, overseeing the coordination and communication of the firm's internal departments. Previous to this, Ms. Pyle was President of Orion West, Inc., a management consulting firm that specialized in working globally with CEOs and HR teams, including Fortune 500 level organizations. As Chief of Staff of Altegris, Ms. Pyle plays a key role in aligning the firm's strategic direction and building its infrastructure. Her expertise is critical in helping the management team develop metrics and project prioritization across the company. Ms. Pyle is a graduate of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, with a BA in Psychology (summa cum laude) and a MA and PhD in Organizational Psychology.

Allen H. Cheng - Managing Director
Mr. Cheng brings 18 years of hedge fund and alternative investment experience to Altegris in his current role as Managing Director, Research and Investments. Before joining Altegris, Mr. Cheng served as Managing Director, Head of Fund of Funds Portfolio Management at Bank of America’s Alternative Investment Group. In this role, Mr. Cheng built and directed the hedge fund portfolio investment team and additionally oversaw numerous hedge fund products across diverse strategies. He has significant experience in the alternative investment industry, particularly in the area of identifying, selecting, and monitoring hedge fund managers across multiple investment disciplines. Mr. Cheng’s previous experience includes responsibility as Managing Director, Head of Research for Optima Fund Management, an investment advisory firm specialized in alternative investments. He began his alternative investment career at Moore Capital Management managing asset allocation and research for hedge fund multi-manager products. Mr. Cheng earned his BA in Finance from the University of Maryland and MBA from the University of Michigan.

David P. Mathews - General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer
Mr. Mathews has over 16 years of legal, regulatory and business experience in the financial services industry. This includes over 6 years of experience in legal and regulatory matters specifically relating to hedge funds and other alternative investment products. Immediately prior to joining Altegris, Mr. Mathews served as general counsel for a California-based hedge fund of funds manager, and before that practiced law with the New York law firm of Shearman & Sterling, in its Washington, DC office. From 1991 to 1998, Mr. Mathews was an attorney with the SEC in both the Division of Enforcement and the Division of Investment Management, his work including the proposal, adoption and interpretation of regulations affecting alternative investment products. Mr. Mathews's background also includes experience as an in-house attorney for the insurance affiliate of the Investment Company Institute, the trade association for the mutual fund industry, and experience in general corporate and securities law matters with private law firms in Dallas, Texas. Mr. Mathews is a graduate of Oklahoma State University and received his Juris Doctor degree from Pepperdine University School of Law.

Tricia Miller - Director, Product Development
Ms. Miller has over nine years of financial industry experience. Prior to the formation of Altegris, Ms. Miller was Director of Administration of the Managed Investments Division of Man Financial Inc, a subsidiary of the Man Group, in its La Jolla, California office. Ms. Miller began her career as a financial consultant with Merrill Lynch’s Private Client Group in La Jolla, CA, where she served on a team of investment professionals focused on business lending and cash management, and estate and tax planning. Upon the separation from Man Financial and formation of Altegris in July 2002, she became a general securities principal and was responsible for supervision and compliance. In her current role as Director of Product Development at Altegris, Ms. Miller works in the processes of initial and ongoing compliance, legal and regulatory review of products and money managers. She leads Altegris’ ongoing efforts in monitoring the administration of the investment products on our platform.

Ozzie DiVinere - Senior Vice President, Private Client Group
Mr. DiVinere brings over 18 years of experience in alternative investments and an understanding of high net worth individuals and institutions to his role at Altegris. Prior to the formation of Altegris, Mr. DiVinere served as Vice President of the Managed Investments Division of Man Financial, a subsidiary of the Man Group, in their La Jolla, California office. As a Vice President of Altegris, Mr. DiVinere is responsible for helping suitable investors access quality hedge fund and managed futures investment products designed to meet their specific individual needs. Mr. DiVinere graduated from San Diego State University with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing in 1981.

John P. Scarcella - Senior Vice President, National Sales Director
Mr. Scarcella has 24 years of experience in the organization and marketing of alternative investments, including Managed Futures, Real Estate Investment Trusts and partnerships as well as equipment leasing investments. Prior to joining Altegris, Mr. Scarcella was Vice President National Marketing for Steben & Company, where he was responsible for the development of the broker dealer distribution network for the firm's managed futures funds. Previously, Mr. Scarcella served as Vice President of National Accounts for Lincoln Financial Distributors. Before this, Mr. Scarcella was Senior Vice President of ATEL Securities Corporation, responsible for all sales, marketing, and due diligence efforts for ATEL's public and private equipment leasing investment offerings. Previously, Mr. Scarcella was the Director of Investor Relations and Marketing for Landsing Capital Corporation, responsible for the marketing of real estate limited partnerships and REITS. Mr. Scarcella received his Bachelors Degree in Finance from Santa Clara University in 1983 and his M.B.A. with a concentration in marketing from Santa Clara University in 1992. He is a licensed securities and commodities broker and direct participation program principal.

Michael Stendler - Vice President, Institutional Relationship Management
Mr. Stendler brings over 20 years of experience to his role as Associate Vice President of Altegris. Mr. Stendler was previously Managing Director of the Barrington, Illinois-based Meyer Capital Management - a $250 million Commodity Trading Advisor. Prior to this, he served as a Senior Consultant for Simms Capital Management, a global equity management firm based in Greenwich, Connecticut, and was also Vice President and Director of Institutional Sales at Heartland Advisors, a small-cap value manager based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He began his career in the investment and asset management industry in 1984. Mr. Stendler is a 1983 graduate of Concordia University, graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, with a concentration in Finance.

Peter Cunningham - Vice President, Alternative Investment Consultant
Mr. Cunningham brings six years of experience marketing alternative investment products, in addition to broad-based experience in trading and operations. Peter joined Altegris from Steben and Company, where he served as a Regional Vice President. Previously, he served as Director of Marketing for ClaraVista Capital Management, a Commodity Trading Advisor. Peter gained trading and operational experience with Goldman Sach’s Hedge Fund Strategy Group rising to Execution Trader on the foreign exchange desk. Peter holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Georgia.

Jason ZumBerge , CAIA^SM - Vice President, Institutional Relationship Management
Prior to joining Altegris, Mr. ZumBerge was Vice President at Presidio Financial Partners, a firm specializing in financial planning for high net worth individuals and entrepreneurs. At Presidio, Mr. ZumBerge was responsible for manager research, and gained extensive experience in custom hedge fund and managed futures portfolio construction. Prior to his position at Presidio, Mr. ZumBerge served as Director of Investments at Quintessence Group, an independent multi-family office advising wealthy families in their investments. Mr. ZumBerge has also gained experience at Morgan Keegan and Morgan Stanley. Mr. ZumBerge is a graduate of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX, where he received a BBA degree in Finance and Organizational Psychology. He holds the designation of Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA^SM).

Bret Undem - Vice President, Institutional Relationship Management
Before joining Altegris Investments, Mr. Undem was a Managing Director at Strata Partners LLC, an investment banking firm that provides corporate finance and strategic advisory services to middle-market companies. Prior to joining Strata Partners, Mr. Undem spent seven years as Vice President of Acacia Research, a NASDAQ-listed technology company. At Acacia, he was responsible for Investor Relations and Media Relations. Prior to Acacia, Mr. Undem served as an institutional investment consultant in Los Angeles, California. From 1994 to 2000, he oversaw investment assets in excess of $2.0 billion for institutional clients throughout the United States. Mr. Undem graduated from the University of Arizona with a B.S. in Finance.

Todd Trusso , CAIA^SM - Vice President, Private Client Group
Mr. Trusso brings over 10 years of experience in asset allocation and investment consulting with high net worth and family office clients. Prior to joining Altegris in 2005, Mr. Trusso was the Manager of Financial Services with Prudential Financial. Mr. Trusso was responsible for overseeing a team of 12 Financial Advisors who were responsible for retirement, estate, and tax planning for over 200 clients. Mr. Trusso’s team specialized in managed account and managed research implementation dealing with $50+ million in client assets. Mr. Trusso holds a BA in Political Science from California State University, San Marcos. Mr. Trusso holds the designation of Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA^SM).

Cory Schutz , CAIA^SM - Vice President, Private Client Group
Prior to joining the firm in early 2003, Mr. Schutz worked first with American Express Financial Advisors in Seattle, Washington, as a Financial Advisor. Mr. Schutz was later recruited to work at Fisher Investments in Woodside, California. While at Fisher, he held the title of Investment Counselor and was a member of a Fisher’s International Team. In this role, Mr. Schutz was responsible for managing and soliciting relationships of UK clients and other non-US entities, and was personally responsible for managing client relationships representing roughly $50 million in assets. Mr. Schutz is a graduate of the University of Washington in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communications. He holds the designation of Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA^SM).

Stephen Klawitter , CAIA^SM - Associate Vice President
Mr. Klawitter brings over seven years of experience to his current role as Associate Vice President of Altegris. He focuses his efforts on reviewing and recommending CTA programs for our clients’ portfolios. His past role as a Senior Research Associate at Altegris was heavily weighted toward maintaining the integrity of the International Traders Research database of CTA programs, performing ongoing review of the existing managers and actively searching for new managers. Previous to his experience at Altegris, Mr. Klawitter provided sales support for Morgan Stanley in its Portland, Oregan office. Mr. Klawitter has a BA in Business Administration and Finance from the University of Portland (Oregon). He holds the designation of Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA^SM) and is part of the Altegris Trade Services Group.

Jason Pemberton - Associate Vice President
Mr. Pemberton has eight years of financial industry experience. Prior to joining Altegris as Client Relationship Manager in 2006, Mr. Pemberton was an accountant at Hedgeworks, a hedge fund administration firm. Before this, he worked as a trading specialist at National Planning Corporation, providing fixed income and equity trading support to financial advisors, portfolio managers and private clients. Mr. Pemberton also gained experience as an equity/mutual fund trader at AIG SunAmerica, and began his career as a Lead Operations Controller at Merrill Lynch in 1999. Mr. Pemberton graduated San Diego State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, with a concentration in Finance.

Vance Barse - Associate Vice President
Mr. Barse joined Altegris as an Associate Vice President in 2007. Mr. Barse has eight years of professional experience and worked most recently at Pyrysys, a behavioral healthcare firm in La Jolla, CA. In his role as Business Administrator and Corporate Officer, he led a seven member team in managing finance, marketing, operations, and human resources. Prior to Pyrysys, Mr. Barse gained experience as general manager of Allied Counseling Group in Frederick, MD where he was responsible for profit and loss management and strategic sales and marketing initiatives. Mr. Barse graduated from the University of Maryland with a Bachelor of Science degree in Neurophysiology and Neurobiology and was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellow.

Narendra Gidwani - Director, Software Development
Prior to joining Altegris, Mr. Gidwani spent 15 years with Microsoft Corporation, ending as a Product Unit Manager at its headquarters in Redmond, Washington. He joined the Microsoft Windows Networking Group in 1990 and subsequently led the design and implementation of the Point-to-Point Protocol for Windows NT. Mr. Gidwani also played a major role in developing Microsoft's software-based router technology, leading a team of 50 to develop Network Access Protection systems. Mr. Gidwani leads Altegris's ongoing efforts in the development of software to help investors analyze hedge fund and CTA performance. Mr. Gidwani graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York with Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees, both in Computer Science.