Kevin Baum calls his position as manager of the Oppenheimer Real Asset Fund a great combination of his two loves–investment markets and commodities. How does one come to have a love of commodities? In Baum's case it could be called an accident of birth. "I grew up in Texas and we did a little bit of ranching, but primarily we were in the oil and gas business. The Oppenheimer Real Asset Fund has given me the opportunity to combine those two interests; it's worked out really well." A graduate of Texas Tech University, Baum joined Oppenheimer in 1993 after gaining some initial financial experience with Edward Jones. After spending a few years as an analyst, he became a member of the team that launched the Real Asset Fund in 1997. He took over day-to-day management responsibilities in May 1999 and was joined by co-manager Angelo Manioudakis in April 2002.