Natural Resources >> Money Manager Interviews >> December 23, 2002

Joseph Foster – Van Eck Associates

JOSEPH M. FOSTER, Portfolio Manager at Van Eck Associates, assumed full portfolio management responsibilities for the International Investors Gold Fund and the Gold//Resources Fund. The Gold/Resources Fund was merged with the Van Eck Global Hard Assets Fund in 2000. Also in 2000, he assumed management responsibilities for the AIG Equity Fund Gold for AIG Private Bank, located in Zurich, Switzerland. Prior to joining Van Eck, he managed the Geology Department at Pinson Mining Company. Prior to joining Pinson, he worked for several companies based in Reno, Nevada, involved in exploration for precious metals throughout the Great Basin. He received an MBA from the University of Nevada and an MS in Geology from the Mackay School of Mines in 1988. In 1982 he graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a BS in Geology (with honors). While in graduate school and working as a geologist, he wrote a number of professional papers on mining and geology. Profile
TWST: Tell us about Van Eck Associates and your responsibilities

there.

Mr. Foster: Van Eck was the first gold fund in the US. It started

in 1955 as the International Investors Fund, which was