Portnoy Joins Westport Resources

Westport Resources, a leading independent investment and financial planning firm serving individuals, families, municipalities and institutions around the world, welcomes to its staff a team of three Managing Directors – Paul LaBossiere, CFA; Newtown resident Michael Portnoy; and Mark Tonucci – who specialize in creating mutual funds by utilizing the experience of hedge fund managers.

Mr. LaBossiere, Mr. Portnoy and Mr. Tonucci come to Westport Resources from Trust Advisors, one of the first advisory firms to construct and manage multi-manager alternative asset portfolios. Portnoy and Tonucci have worked together since the 1980s and have known John Vaccaro, CEO of Westport Resources, since then as well. They and LaBossiere joined Westport Resources in November 2013 as a result of the firm’s decision to offer a series of its own mutual funds.  (The first fund launched on December 31, 2013, and is called the ALPS / Westport Resources Hedged High Income Fund, an open-ended mutual fund designed to protect principal while producing high current income.)

“This is a very exciting time for Westport Resources,” Vaccaro said.  “Expanding our service offerings to include a mutual fund is a big step, one which I’ve been happy to take with the guidance and expertise of Paul, Mike and Mark. Their depth of experience is impressive and I’m confident in their abilities to manage our fund successfully.”

Portnoy serves as Managing Director for Westport Resources and Portfolio Manager for the ALPS / Westport Resources Hedged High Income Fund. He is responsible for all aspects of the fund’s creation and operation including manager research and selection, monitoring and on-going due diligence. From 2009 to 2011 Portnoy was a vice president of public investments for Hatteras Funds, a multi-billion dollar firm specializing in alternative investments. There, he was the portfolio manager of the Hatteras Alternative Mutual Funds, formerly the AIP Funds, a multi-manager, multi-strategy fund of funds in a daily liquid ‘40 Act mutual fund format. Portnoy has spent his career of nearly 40 years developing and managing innovative investment products.  Among his many successful ventures were The Managers Funds, developed at Evaluation Associates in the 1980s and now owned by Affiliated Managers Group; Trust Advisors Equity Plus and Twin Plus, two multi-manager market neutral equity funds; and various liquid investment products developed for some of the largest US financial institutions. Portnoy holds a BA from Ohio Wesleyan and an MBA from Capital University. He holds his Series 7, 24, 26, 63, and 66 security licenses. Portnoy is married with two children and resides in Newtown, Conn., where he has served ten years on the town’s Board of Finance.