Stephen D. McCarty, Managing Director & Chief Compliance Officer

Steve McCarty is one of the Founders and Managing Partner of Ascentia Capital Partners, LLC. Steve has over 27 years of experience in the investment industry.

Prior to forming Ascentia, he was an Executive Vice President and Board Member of Navellier & Associates, Inc., an investment advisory firm specializing in Quantitative Analysis and Modern Portfolio Theory. Under Steve's sales and marketing leadership, Navellier grew from $245 million in assets under management to over $7 billion.  As the firm expanded, Steve's roles broadened as well. After initially serving as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Compliance Officer, Steve's role expanded to include sales and distribution where he initiated several consulting relationships with broker/dealers and RIAs, developed a successful sales and distribution strategy, and oversaw marketing for the entire firm.

Prior to working with Navellier and Associates, Steve was a Senior Vice President of Operations with Shearson Lehman Brothers where he had direct supervision of over 30 branch offices located throughout the Western United States.

Before joining Lehman Brothers in 1984, Steve served in a management role with Security Pacific Brokers (formerly CD Anderson), and was a Securities Trader for Financial Network Investment Corp. (FNIC).

Steve has a Masters in Business Administration in Management from California State University at Long Beach where he was selected to the Graduate Dean's List of Scholars and Artists, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Southern California.

 

James P. Calhoun, Portfolio Manager

James Calhoun is currently the Portfolio Manager for the Alternative Strategies Mutual Fund and oversees all research functions for Ascentia Capital Partners, LLC. As lead member of the investment committee, his responsibilities also include developing the firm's macro economic outlook, asset allocation decisions, and execution of the portfolio's hedge overlay strategies.

Before joining Ascentia, James worked for the University of Nevada Alumni Relations, and participated in programs that helped to exceed annual donation goals.

Prior to working for the University of Nevada, James was the head leasing agent for College Park Communities, where he spearheaded numerous marketing efforts, and was recognized for his focus on customer service and conflict resolution. 

Prior to that, James managed a loan referral generation team for Equitas Capital, which was located in San Jose, California. 

James obtained a Dual Major Bachelors Degree in Finance and Economics in 2008 from the University of Nevada, Reno. His studies emphasized Derivatives and Risk Management, Corporate Valuation and Forecasting, Portfolio Management and Optimization, International Finance and Foreign Exchange, Macro and Micro Economics, Alternative Investment Strategies, Statistics, and Econometrics.  Furthermore, James participated in the successful management of a $100,000 endowment fund for the University during the spring of 2008. 

James is currently enrolled and pursuing a Masters Degree from the University of Nevada in the Science of Finance.  

James is a June 2010 Level 2 CFA candidate. James has achieved the Investment Management Certification from PerTrac Financial Solutions (2009) as well as the NASAA Series 65 Exam.  

eMail: James Calhoun

 

James O'Shaughnessy Houssels, Portfolio Manager 

James O'Shaughnessy Houssels is the Portfolio Manager for Ascentia's Long/ Short Strategy portfolio and is a member of the Firm's investment committee. Mr. Houssels  is also a  Managing Member of Wealth Management Associates, LLC (since 2002) which serves as the backbone of his family office and is the sole investment advisor to the Houssels Family Limited Partnership. He is also the Principal of Houssels & Co., LLC (since 2005) which he formed to provide investment advice to high net worth individuals.

Prior to working as a Portfolio Manager, Mr. Houssels had a career in the casino industry and served as General Manager of Sales and Marketing of Star City in Sydney Australia from 1994 to 2000.

Mr. Houssels obtained his Bachelor's Degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

eMail: James Houssels

 

Aimee Elizabeth McCarty, Marketing Director 

Aimee McCarty is one of the Founders of Ascentia Capital Partners, LLC and has 13 years experience in the financial services industry. Ms. McCarty serves as the Firm's Marketing Director and brings an extensive business-to-business background with her. She is also Ascentia's office administrator, running the day-to-day operations of the Firm.

Prior to forming Ascentia, she served as Institutional Data Services Manager for Navellier & Associates, Inc., an investment advisory firm specializing in Quantitative Analysis and Modern Portfolio Theory. With Aimee's guidance, the Institutional arm of Navellier developed and instituted a successful program and procedures for Proposals Requests (RFPs), which directly aided the firm's distribution team in obtaining institutional clients. During her employment at Navellier, the firm grew from $2.5 billion in assets under management to over $7 billion.

Prior to working as Navellier's Institutional and Data Services Manager, Aimee was wooed by Nextel, Inc. to serve as the West Coast Production Manager for the nation-wide telecommunications provider.

Before that, she was Marketing Director for a firm that was the franchise holder of seven different CellularOne service areas located across the United States. She was in the marketing department where her initial responsibilities expanded from making all the media buys to eventually directing all marketing activities. She served as Creative Director for the Firm and as such was the recipient of numerous national print advertising awards and several radio 'Addie' awards for the Chicago metropolitan area.

Aimee is currently a Bachelor of the Arts Candidate at the University of Nevada in Reno. Aimee has completed the NASAA Series 65 Exam 

 

Strategy Distribution Team:

James Duddey

James Duddey is the Southeastern Regional Sales Director for Ascentia Capital Partners, LLC, a Registered Investment Advisor specializing in the investments of alternative strategies. His 21 years within the financial services business includes a distribution background in both domestic and off-shore mutual funds, separate accounts, and hedge funds.  He is a specialist in alternative investment solutions and has had experience across the wire houses, regional broker dealers, as well as the independent and bank brokerage channels.

James joined Ascentia Capital in 2008 from Transamerica Capital, where he distributed a family of multi-managed fund of fund portfolios to the bank brokerage channel.

Prior to Transamerica Capital, James was with Credit Suisse Asset Management where he served as Vice President, Senior Investment Specialist covering the independent and wire house distribution channels.  James initiated what lead to a global effort that successfully launched 20 off-shore mutual funds throughout the many International Merrill Lynch offices.  Distribution included Latin American, Europe, and the Far East regions.

Before Credit Suisse, he was responsible for the distribution of the Federated Family of funds in southeast Florida.  His efforts were centered on the many fixed income strategies they offered.

James was 1 of 5 that joined efforts in launching a family of mutual funds for GNA, an insurance company.  GE Capital purchased the 4 mutual funds shortly after the launch.

Prior to GNA, James worked with the Ivy Mackenzie Family of Funds, a boutique shop specializing in International investing.

James Duddey's career in the financial services' industry began in 1987 with the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company of Akron, Ohio where he served as a special agent.

James earned his bachelor degree in business administration with a concentration in Finance from Kent State University in 1990.  He holds the NASD Series 7 and 63 licenses.

eMail: James Duddey

 

Richard E. Galloway

Rick Galloway is the National Sales Director for Ascentia Capital Partners, LLC and has over 20 years experience in the investments industry.

Prior to joining Ascentia, he was a Regional Sales Director at Navellier & Associates, Inc., an investment advisory firm specializing in Modern Portfolio Theory and Quantitative Analysis.

Before joining Navellier, he worked for Lazard Asset Management focused on separate accounts within wirehouse firms and regional broker dealers at both the retail and institutional level.

Prior to this Rick was responsible for starting distribution in the Southwest region for The Northstar Funds. It specialized in emerging manager mutual funds, including the Brandes International Value fund which grew from $50mm to $1.5B in assets under management within two years.

Before he joined Northstar Funds, he was responsible for launching a proprietary fund family for Boatmen's Trust Company, the ninth largest trust company in the country, and initiated cross-selling opportunities between trust officers, the private client group, and the bank brokerage channel.

Rick's experience has primarily focused on start-up situations and new product launches. He began his career with Wells Fargo's Asset Management group where his primary role involved raising assets for both cash management and equity mutual funds.

Rick obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration of Marketing from The Ohio State University in 1990.

eMail: Rick Galloway