Our Team

Stacy Chitty, Co-Founder & Owner

As the co-founder and majority owner of Blue Vault, Stacy oversees the day-to-day operations of the company and seeks innovative ways to expand the value Blue Vault provides to wealth advisors. He co-founded Blue Vault in 2009.

Stacy has over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. During his career, he has specialized in building relationships with those involved in distributing and utilizing alternative investments, including nontraded REITs, public limited partnerships, interval funds, and private offerings.

Through these experiences and relationships, Stacy has achieved a significant level of expertise and understanding as it relates to the intricacies of helping wealth advisors grow their business by understanding and using alternative strategies to investing.

Prior to co-founding Blue Vault, he was the Managing Director, Equity Sales for Moody Securities, as well as Managing Director, National Sales for Griffin Capital Securities. Stacy also served as Vice President, Broker Dealer Relations for Wells Real Estate Funds for over nine years, where he acted as the company’s liaison to the Independent Broker/Dealer industry and directed the selling activities on a national basis with over 250 Broker Dealers.

Stacy holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech Communication from the University of Georgia. He is married to his wife, Kelli, and they have three children, Caroline, Cade, and Calli Beth.

Luke Schmidt, Vice President, Director of Research

As Director of Research, Luke is responsible for Blue Vault's data and research reports on alternative investment programs, including nontraded REITs, Interval Funds, Tender Offer Funds, and nontraded BDCs. Luke also oversees the Blue Vault Database which enables users to filter and query different financial metrics across all product types covered by Blue Vault. He joined Blue Vault in 2017.

Luke has over 14 years in the financial services industry, including banking services and financial analysis.

Prior to joining Blue Vault Partners, he spent 7 years working in the banking industry, where he held several roles including Relationship Manager and Commercial Credit Underwriter. In these roles, he was responsible for building and maintaining relationships with commercial clients as well as performing financial analysis and due diligence on their financial position.

Luke received a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from the University of Notre Dame in 2010. He is married to Kyla, and they have two young girls.

Betsy Ricks, Senior Vice President, New Business Development

Betsy has over 20 years of experience in the alternative investment industry. She’s spent the last 10 years at Blue Vault working with broker dealers and other industry firms including investment banks and accounting firms, to meet their needs for third party performance data on alternatives. She also handles human resources and some internal operational roles for Blue Vault.

Prior to joining Blue Vault Partners, Betsy was employed by Wells Real Estate Funds, where she was responsible for managing Key Account teams in order to maximize relationships, education, and marketing opportunities. In addition, she was instrumental in helping broker dealers educate their sales force and home office staff on the benefits of investing in nontraded REITs, as well as assisting internal compliance professionals with meeting regulatory requirements for advisor attendance at regional due diligence meetings. Prior to joining Wells, Betsy worked for over six years in the entertainment industry providing administrative and logistical support for Kenny Rogers Productions.

Betsy holds a Bachelor of Journalism degree in Public Relations from the University of Georgia.

Zach Mersmann, Financial Analyst

As a Financial Analyst, Zach works closely with Luke to produce research reports on alternative investment programs, with a focus on nontraded REITs and private placements.

Zach has over three years of alternative investment experience. Before Blue Vault, he worked as a financial analyst for a broker dealer that specialized in nontraded REITs and private placements.

Zach received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from Texas A&M University in 2021. He married his wife Addison in 2022.

Margaret Armour, Partner Strategy & Support

Margaret is the relationship liaison for Blue Vault and its many partners. She began with BV as a marketing specialist and grew into her current role, which she began in September 2021. Her main goal is to support all BV partners and ensure they receive the full benefits available to them. She also shares the Blue Vault mission with firms who have not yet discovered the advantages BV has to offer.

Margaret worked nearly 15 years for Georgia public libraries before joining the Main Library at the University of Georgia, where her role was patron services. She managed relationships between students, staff, and faculty, and the library system. After taking time away to spend with her newborn, she rejoined the University as a fundraising researcher for the Development Office. She joined Blue Vault in June 2019.

Margaret holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism from Georgia Southern University. She and her husband Kelly live in (very) rural Georgia with their 3 daughters and can usually be found staring at a field, whether it is a softball field or Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium.

Sonya Andrews, Vice President, Operations

Sonya joined Blue Vault in 2016 and leads the firm’s operational activities, including Blue Vault's annual conference, website content, email communications, editorial calendar, financial reporting, and office management.

She has over 22 years of operations experience, primarily in the financial services industry. Sonya started her career at Merrill Lynch where she worked in its transfer agency and mortgage- and securities-backed lending companies. Next, she worked at Coca-Cola Enterprises as a Senior Treasury Analyst, coordinating with multiple financial institutions. She then joined Risk Management Alternatives as the Cash Manager, directing the company’s funds transfer and cash reporting operations and managing its banking relationships.

Sonya earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from the University of North Florida and a Bachelor of Science in Communication Disorders from Utah State University. She is married to Jim, and they have three children.

Laura Cotton, Director of Marketing

Laura Cotton is the Director of Marketing and has over fourteen years of experience in marketing, including six years in the financial services industry. She joined Blue Vault in 2019 to coordinate the webinar program and marketing efforts.

Prior to joining Blue Vault, she was a marketing program manager focused on the financial services division for SAI 360, a compliance software company. Mrs. Cotton also served as a marketing manager for REACH Health, executing the annual industry survey, coordinating various tradeshows and industry conferences, and supporting the webinar program and other marketing efforts.

She earned her Bachelor of Science in Management, with concentrations in Marketing and Social Psychology from the Georgia Institute of Technology, graduating with honors.

Hannah Kilgore, Marketing Specialist

Hannah Kilgore is an artist and designer based in North Georgia. She earned her BA in Graphic Design and a BA in Studio Art from Young Harris College. Her work takes on a complex nature, containing many media, often used in nontraditional ways.

Her art explores subjects like identity, connectivity, mental health, and human experience. In design, her work connects people to experience and identity, and is a bold expression of individuality and purpose. An undercurrent driving everything she creates is the undeniable idea that we cannot create, live, or even exist in isolation. Connection is an inextricable part of what it is to be human—and an artist. Everything we experience, everything we know, and everything we are is connected to the artwork we create.