Mr. Ferguson, born in 1956, has over 25 years of experience in investment management and trading financial futures. He co-founded Ferguson Bakken Strategies, Inc., an investment adviser, in 1993. Before that, Mr. Ferguson was Director, Pension Fund Investments at Weyerhaeuser Company. While there, he shared responsibility for the investment management of the $1 billion pension fund. His job there included investment architecture, manager selection and performance measurement. He also managed the pension fund's derivative portfolio.

Prior to joining Weyerhaeuser in 1986, Mr. Ferguson managed all futures and options applications for First Chicago Investment Advisors (currently Brinson Partners). While at First Chicago, Mr. Ferguson managed the firm's  Stock Index Fund and was a member of the Asset Allocation Committee. He played a key role in developing the Multiple Markets Index, an index comprised of global stocks and bonds, real estate and venture capital, and contributed to papers published in the Financial Analysts Journal.

Before receiving his MBA from the Wharton School, Mr. Ferguson worked for 3 1/2 years as a systems analyst for Weyerhaeuser Company. He received his Bachelors of Science from Oregon State University.  His outside interests include chess, pickleball, pocket billiards and playing the piano.

Mr. Franzblau has over 20 years of experience in investment management and product development specific to alternative investments.  Prior to joining Benchmark Plus Partners, Scott founded Parkway Capital Corporation, a NASD registered broker/dealer that was organized to originate, structure and distribute private equity and hedge fund offerings to institutional investors. The firm distributed its products internationally with a primary focus on domestic institutions including state and corporate pension plans, endowments, foundations, financial institutions and family offices.  Prior to forming Parkway Capital, Mr. Franzblau served as Senior Vice President with CIBC/Oppenheimer.  Mr. Franzblau received a BA in Economics and a BS in Political Science from Rutgers University.   He serves as a member of the Rutgers University Board of Overseers.