At the 45th Annual Canadian Finance & Leasing Association (CFLA) conference, CFLA Chairman Richard McAuliffe announced Hugh Swandel, senior managing director of The Alta Group, was selected for the CFLA David Powell Member of the Year award for 2017-2018.

The chairman first announced that the CFLA’s Board of Directors renamed the CFLA Member of Year Award to be the David Powell Member of the Year Award, to honor a member who contributed 22 years of dedicated service to the trade association.

CFLA explained the reasons Swandel was chosen for this honor: “One member who time and time again steps up and stands out in his unwavering support of the asset- based finance and leasing industry is Hugh Swandel. Hugh does so with only one goal in mind; the betterment of the industry he has dedicated his life to and is so passionate about.”

In recognizing Swandel’s contribution to the association, Chairman McAuliffe reviewed Swandel’s many achievements over the past year saying, “Hugh has been instrumental in ensuring the successful launch of CFLA’s Research Committee and the successful completion of the CFLA backed C.D. Howe Institute report– Tooling Up: Canada Needs More Robust Capital Investment, and initiating and laying the foundation for the first ever CFLA Business Confidence Survey….

“(Hugh) in connection with his partners in the Research Committee, has also begun the hard work of identifying the key data points, drafting critical research questions, and formulating the methodology required for the development of a benchmark survey to help CFLA and the industry discover which sectors are most profitable and stay on top of industry trends.”

Swandel’s contributions to the industry and CFLA go back much further than this past year, CFLA added. During the global credit crisis, he prepared materials and provided insight into the impact of the credit crisis on Canadian independent finance companies.

The CFLA Chairman also noted, “Hugh is a past CFLA Member of the Year recipient, receiving the award in 2006 and again in 2010, as one of the volunteer instructors for the Canadian Lease On-Demand education program (CLEO).”

Swandel leads the Canadian region for The Alta Group, a global consultancy founded in 1992.