Hugh Swandel, a managing director of The Alta Group, is the newly elected president of the National Equipment Finance Association’s (NEFA) board of directors. The announcement was made at NEFA’s annual funding conference held in Minneapolis in late September.

Swandel heads the Canadian division for Alta, the global consultancy exclusively focused on equipment leasing and finance. He is a trusted advisor on business development, funding, and mergers and acquisition strategy.

In his new role as NEFA president, Swandel said he will help the association emerge from the credit crisis era. He also hopes to provide enhanced opportunities for the next generation of leaders while catering to the educational and networking needs of brokers and lessors who make up this community of business professionals.

“What makes NEFA unique,” said Swandel, “is how tight the community of smaller leasing companies and brokers are, and how dedicated they are to building the best companies possible.” Attendance at the last NEFA meeting was up 50 percent, he added.

Prior to joining The Alta Group, Swandel founded Swandel and Associates. Earlier in his career, he served as president and chief operations officer of Electronic Financial Group (EFG), a Canadian company that built and launched a multi-lending, web-based credit system. Swandel previously worked closely with Bruce Kropschot on mergers and acquisitions in North America and became involved with The Alta Group when Kropschot joined the consultancy.

Swandel has been an active member and board member of NEFA since it was formed from the merger of two regional leasing associations. Prior to that the consolidation, he was active in the UAEL. Swandel is also on the board of the Toronto-based Canadian Finance and Leasing Association, where he earned distinction as “Member of the Year” for his service work in 2006 and again in 2010. Swandel also is a member of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA), based in Washington, D.C., and has extensive contacts throughout North America.

“We are confident Hugh will provide the continuity of leadership and direction this organization needs,” said Gerry Egan, executive director of NEFA. “NEFA remains robust,” Egan added, “and its members are arranging for or providing funding and strategies for business growth, despite uncertainties in the global economy.”