Thoughts on an unusual interview process?

So I had contacted an alum of my school who's in a very high position within an medium sized asset management company and got an interview for a summer internship. Funny thing is that my first interview was with the vp which I thought went ok, and then got contacted to have two interviews on the same day with the associate and analyst. Both vp and analyst interviews weren't technical, but more about fit and any questions I had for them. Screwed up by associate interview surprising him with two questions that had no correlation between one another at the end. Interview with analyst went better although I stumbled in one question he asked (what do you hope to gain out of this internship) to which he didn't say anything for a while after I responded. Also told me to start researching the specific type of fund his department works with at the end. All interviews were via phone.

So what are your thoughts on:

-the interview structure? Usually it's analyst -> associate -> vp...
-Good sign or bad sign that analyst told me that he didn't know about the certain type of fund before coming to work at the firm and told me at the end to start finding more about it at the end? I'm worried that by coming across as ignorant, he'll report back with a bad impression.
-if the associate thought that the interview went badly, how much do you think it'll hurt my chances?
-any other general impressions/two cents?