Dave Swanson

Founder and Managing Principal of SwanDog, Dave has 30 years of senior management and marketing experience, with nearly 20 years in financial services. Dave most recently served as Executive Vice President and Head of Distribution (sales and marketing) for boutique money manager Calamos Investments. He previously held positions as Chief Operating Officer of Van Kampen Investments, President and CEO of Scudder, Stevens & Clark, Canada, Ltd. and Managing Director and Head of Global Investment Products at Morgan Stanley.

His marketing experience includes serving as Chief Marketing Officer for Van Kampen Investments, Director of Marketing for the Morgan Stanley Funds and Director of Marketing for Kemper Funds.

A highly sought after speaker and industry through leader on marketing topics, Dave holds a Master of Management from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and a Bachelors in Journalism from Southern Illinois University. He is also an independant trustee for an ETF Fund of Funds. 

Bill Barsanti

A brand expert with over 25 years of experience, Bill has worked for some of the nation’s largest and most prestigious ad agencies, including Ogilvy and Mather and Grant/Jacoby. In addition to helping build strong brands like Caterpillar and Wilson Sporting Goods, Bill served as Scudder Kemper Investments Vice President and Director of Advertising and Branding for six years. During that time, Bill oversaw brand development and extension, cultivating innovative sponsorships with the PGA and Big 10 Conference.

James Lesser

James is an accomplished marketing and advertising executive with a specialty in a broad range of financial services categories including retail brokerage, asset management, credit cards and banking products.  His senior roles with both corporate clients and advertising agencies have lent him a unique insight to the needs of financial services marketers with a complex, diverse product line and sales structure.

At Morgan Stanley Investment Management, James led a team of 12 marketing retail asset management products including mutual funds, 529 plans, unit trusts, separate accounts and alternatives.  He also was responsible for brand strategy and positioning, advertising, promotions and sponsorships.  Notable accomplishments included the rebranding and repositioning of two products lines as well as the strategic development and introduction of the Van Kampen advertising campaign.

While at Smith Barney, James led marketing on the Trak mutual fund asset allocation account and at Citi Trust Services, the fiduciary arm of Smith Barney and the Citibank Private Bank.  Other client roles included running brokerage marketing at The Bank of New York and NatWest Bank.

James’ advertising experience includes two stints at Wells, Rich Greene, as well as at Masius, and most recently at Cossette Communications. For Cossette Communications, James led the strategy and execution of direct mail and online campaigns for MasterCard Advisors on behalf of their issuers.  In addition, he led new business efforts for a variety of financial services, healthcare and tourism prospects including RFP development, competitive analysis and strategic positioning.

At Masius, he led activities on the Lord Abbett Investment Management account, Touchstone Energy and Philips Medical Systems.  James cut his advertising teeth at Wells Rich Greene on the Chase Manhattan Bank account where he rose to VP Account Supervisor on the Private Bank, Corporate, Credit Card and Institutional businesses.

James has a BA from Hamilton College in Government and an MBA from New York University in Marketing and International Business.  He holds the NASD series 7 and 24 licenses.  He lives in New York with his wife and daughter.