Altegris Research and Investments Team

Focused solely on alternatives, the Altegris Research and Investments team is dedicated to sourcing, evaluating and securing capacity with premier hedge funds, managed futures funds and programs, and other alternative investments. This is designed to meet the needs of investment professionals and sophisticated investors. This team of experts specializes in detailed operational and investment evaluation for new funds and investment managers, as well as ongoing review and monitoring of existing funds and managers on the Altegris platform.

Allen Cheng - Senior Vice President, Chief Investment Officer, Altegris Advisors

Allen Cheng brings over 20 years of hedge fund and alternative investment experience to his role as Chief Investment Officer of Altegris Advisors where he is responsible for the Research and Investments Group. He is also a co-portfolio manager for the Altegris Managed Futures Strategy Fund (MFTAX) and a member of the Altegris Investment Committee.

Before joining Altegris Advisors, Allen served as Managing Director, Head of Fund of Funds Portfolio Management at Bank of America’s Alternative Investment Group. In this position, Allen 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.

Allen’s previous experience includes responsibility as Managing Director, Head of Research for Optima Fund Management, an investment advisory firm specializing in alternative investments. He began his alternative investment career at Moore Capital Management managing asset allocation and research for hedge fund multi-manager products.

Allen earned his BA in Finance from the University of Maryland and M.B.A. from the University of Michigan.

Lara Magnusen, CAIA® - Vice President, Director, Altegris Advisors

With over 10 years of industry experience, Lara Magnusen currently serves as the Director of Research and Investments for Altegris Advisors and is a member of the Altegris Investment Committee. Lara previously served as Director of Manager Research for Cabezon Capital LLC/Borton Hermeneutics LLC, responsible for monitoring and developing seeded managers.

Additional experience includes her tenure as an Associate Portfolio Manager and Director of Investor Relations at Helix Investment Partners, a capital structure arbitrage hedge fund, as well as a several years as a financial analyst at Goldman Sachs.

Lara holds a BA in Economics with a minor in Business Administration from the University of California, Berkeley. She also has an MBA from the Rady School of Management at the University of California, San Diego.

Ryan Hart , CFA, CAIA® - Vice President, Senior Research Analyst, Altegris Advisors

Ryan Hart has over eight years of industry experience and currently serves as a Senior Research Analyst at Altegris Advisors. Ryan joined Altegris from Wachovia Securities, where he served as Alternative Investment Strategist, responsible for analyzing and recommending alternative investments. In this role, he also advised the investment network on the best utilization of alternative investments in client portfolios.

Previously, Ryan was a senior member of the investment team at Meritage Capital responsible for manager due diligence for fund of funds portfolios. He started his career at Franklin Templeton Investments where he performed quantitative and qualitative analysis on alternative investment managers and strategies while being a member of the investment committee.

Ryan graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of San Diego with BS in Business Administration in Finance.

Eric Bundonis, CFA - Vice President, Senior Research Analyst, Altegris Advisors

Eric Bundonis has over seven years of industry experience and currently serves as a Senior Research Analyst at Altegris Advisors. Eric joined Altegris from OneCapital Management Partners in New York. As a member of OneCapital’s investment committee, he was responsible for identifying, selecting, and monitoring investments for multi-manager funds of hedge funds serving institutional and high net worth investors.

Previously, Eric conducted comprehensive qualitative and quantitative research on prospective and existing investments for one of the world’s leading family office investors, Auda Advisor Associates in New York.

Eric graduated from Middlebury College in Vermont with a BA in History. He also attended the Post-Baccalaureate Program in Business at Columbia University in New York

Marissa Williams - Research Analyst, Altegris Advisors

Marissa Williams serves as a Research Analyst at Altegris Advisors. Her role consists of helping to maintain the Altegris Managed Futures platform, as well as aiding the Altegris Research and Investments Group with various analytical projects. Marissa joined Altegris from Cabrillo Advisors, LLC, a boutique investment bank and financial advisory services firm. In her previous role as a Financial Analyst, she conducted business valuations for clients and was also responsible for supporting Senior Management on a number of middle-market merger & acquisition transactions by conducting extensive company and market research.

Marissa graduated from the University of California, San Diego with a BA in Political Science.

Ashish Dasaur, CAIA® - Associate Vice President, Senior Quantitative Analyst, Altegris Advisors

Ashish Dasaur has over three years of industry experience and currently serves as a Senior Quantitative Analyst at Altegris Advisors. Ashish joined Altegris from Pacific Alternative Asset Management Co., where he served as a Senior Risk Analyst, and was responsible for monitoring and analyzing the risk of the fund of hedge funds portfolios. In this role, he also created and maintained new risk tools and analytics to improve the risk management process.

Ashish started his career at Deloitte Consulting where he addressed business problems revolving around a client’s information management and information technology delivery capabilities.

Ashish holds a BS in Information and Computer Science from University of California, Irvine and completed both the ICS Honors and Campuswide Honors Programs.

Evan Akutagawa - Associate Vice President, Senior Research Analyst, Altegris Advisors

Evan Akutagawa has over six years of industry experience and currently serves as a Senior Research Analyst at Altegris Advisors. Evan joined Altegris Advisors from Rosehill Capital Management LLC, a long/short Japanese equity hedge fund. As Rosehill’s Senior Operations & Finance Analyst, he was responsible for day-to-day operations, fund accounting, and research. He also previously served as Rosehill’s Head Trader.

Evan graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a BA in economics.

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