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Consulting Team
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| ACG clients work with a team of seasoned
professionals who accurately assess
project needs and focus the right resources to create a winning
strategy. This approach ensures that a project benefits from
a variety of perspectives. Clients can always reach a capable
resource at ACG. |
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| Michael Auriemma, President—Michael
oversees the delivery of excellence to all ACG clients. As a frequent
speaker, teacher and writer, Michael devotes time and energy to the
financial services industry. He co-authored the American Banker’s
Association’s Bankcard Business textbook
and contributed to its second edition. He is an Advisory Board Member
of SourceMedia's Cards
& Payments magazine and the ABA Bank Card Management School.
He offers clients experience in all the functional disciplines from
strategic planning and product development to contract negotiations. (Top) |
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| Marc Sacher,
Managing Director—Marc's primary responsibilities include
business development, staff development, strategic initiatives for
the company and key client engagements. Over the years, Marc has
applied his expertise to the full range of activity at ACG. He is
driven to understand and respond to client needs, and his background
enables him to approach his job from a range of perspectives that
include those of banks, partners/vendors, consumers and regulators.
Prior to joining ACG, Marc worked in the financial services practice
at Price Waterhouse and for the Office of Comptroller of the Currency.
He has been an instructor at the ABA's National School of Bank Card
Management and an Advisory Board member for one of the leading credit
card industry conferences. (Top) |
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| John Costa,
Director—John brings decades of work experience across the financial service and capital markets sectors. Prior to joining ACG, John was the CEO of Promontory Asset Finance Company. John has worked as an issuer, a servicer, and as an investment banker specializing in securitization and M&A. His work has often involved the development of new techniques and funding strategies. He pioneered the use of securitization for esoteric assets, and developed unique funding platforms in both the term and asset backed commercial paper markets. John holds a BA from New York University where he graduated Magna Cum Laude, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He has held series 7, 63 and 24 securities licenses, and authored a chapter on servicing of sub-prime credit cards for a Fabozzi text book. (Top) |
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| Steven Jacowitz,
Director—With a focus on consumer credit
and a strong retail background, Steve brings expertise to a range
of disciplines, including operations, collections, finance, strategy
and marketing.
He also has a proven track record of establishing winning alliances
for our clients. Steve’s career before ACG included Bloomingdale’s,
Filene's and Saks Fifth Avenue. (Top) |
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| Tom LaMagna,
Director—Tom manages our world-wide Industry Roundtables and Benchmark business covering most functions in credit and debit card, auto finance, and consumer mortgage lending. Tom utilizes his experience and business acumen to play key roles in our consulting practice with a focus on operational effectiveness, collections, customer service, organizational effectiveness, project management, and internet optimization. Tom joined ACG after long relationships with JPMorgan Chase and First Chicago. He has extensive experience in e-servicing, collections, customer service, project management, systems development, and financial and loss management. (Top) |
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| Patricia A. Sahm, Director—Pat has over two decades of professional services experience in the retail banking and payments industries. She has served clients across a wide range of topics including risk management, CRM/CEX, enterprise data warehousing, real-time decision management, and channel integration. She started her career at TRW Credit Data (now Experian) where she led the initial implementation of automated FICO scores. At the time this revolutionized the credit card industry. During the past ten years she has focused her attention on marketing and technology. While at Donnelley Marketing in 2000 she pioneered the development of real-time, web based delivery of decisions. At Acxiom she created and implemented channel integration strategies for her clients, and oversaw several enterprise data warehouse projects. Prior to joining ACG she was the Practice Manager—NA Retail Banking & Payments at McKinsey & Company where she was responsible for client development, external relations, and knowledge initiatives. Pat has her undergraduate degree from Georgetown University. She received her MBA from New York Institute of Technology and her Doctorate in Management from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. (Top) |
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| Matt Simester,
Director—Matt leads the Firm’s UK office where
he has responsibility for growing ACG’s footprint in Europe.
He has almost 20 years of experience within financial services and
he has built a reputation as an outstanding strategist who is able
to use his operational, sales, marketing distribution, and product
P&L skills to develop and implement strategies that deliver high value
returns. Matt has been responsible for marketing and product management
at the Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank, VP of Marketing at
Affinion and variously Managing Director of a Barclaycard JV and Head
of Value Added Services at Barclaycard Business. Matt has a BA (Hons)
from Anglia Ruskin University and is a member of the Institute of Direct
Marketing. (Top) |
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| Megan Bramlette, Managing Associate—Megan balances her focus between supporting European business growth and leading the international Knowledge Management practice, splitting her time between ACG's New York and London offices. Some of her more explicit duties include serving as the Managing Editor of the UK edition of Cardbeat® and providing clients with business intelligence and consumer research services. An acknowledged payments industry expert, Megan has been a featured speaker at industry conferences in the US and Europe and has been quoted in and authored numerous articles and market research reports about the payments industry. Megan joined ACG from Citibank and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering, Operations Research from Columbia University. (Top) |
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| Kathy Castle,
Managing Associate—Kathy joined
ACG after working 20+ years in credit card, mortgage and installment
loan products while at Chase Manhattan Bank and New Century Mortgage. She
held positions in marketing, operations management, financial analysis,
risk management and fraud prevention. This well-rounded background makes
her a great fit to lead a diversified mix of Industry Roundtables for
ACG and to serve as a key contributor on related consulting engagements.
Kathy has a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from Cornell University
and an MBA in Finance from Hofstra University’s Graduate School
of Business. (Top) |
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Ed Falco,
Managing Associate—Ed helps clients
move toward executable solutions for their organizations through client
engagements and leadership of ACG Industry Roundtables. He has experience
determining right-party/best-time contact strategy and tools, implementing
alternative payment channels, configuring complex products, supporting processing
platforms and migrating portfolios from one bank to another. His banking
career began in the private-label card division of Citigroup and included operations
projects at Citi, Wells Fargo, Fleet Bank and CompuCredit. (Top) |
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| Edward Lawrence, Managing Associate—Ed
has more than 25 years of experience as a banker and a consultant in
all aspects of credit, debit card and pre-paid card management. He held
senior executive
positions at Eastern States Bancard Association (now FDR) and Valley
National Bank that spanned the portfolio management, technology and human
resources disciplines. Ed has launched successful co-branded credit and
debit card programs, converted portfolios to new processors, and sold
both merchant and credit card portfolios. This gives him a broad business
perspective in his consulting activities. (Top) |
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Chris Malin, Managing
Associate—Chris, based in ACG's London office, focuses
on developing Industry Roundtables in the UK. He also works on
a diverse range of programs including benchmarking, prepaid cards,
and customer value management and analysis. Prior to joining
ACG Chris worked for Barclaycard and Banco Santander. He has
also worked for organizations at the forefront of their markets
in affinity and prepaid cards. Chris holds a bachelor of Arts
(Hons.) degree in applied sociology, a graduate diploma in management,
and an MBA from Stanford University. (Top) |
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Laurie Roth,
Managing Associate—Laurie joined ACG in May 2007, bringing
more than 20 years of retail private-label credit card experience
from Federated Department Stores, JCPenney Business Services (subsequently
Alliance Data Systems), Saks Fifth Avenue and nine distinct retailer
brands under Saks Inc. She is adept at credit strategy, operations,
marketing, training and development, incentive programs, loyalty
programs, and co-brand development and implementation. Additionally,
Laurie has overseen several portfolio conversions. (Top) |
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| Robert Taglin,
Managing Associate—Bob contributes expertise in marketing,
value proposition development, new product
launch strategies, contract negotiation and competitive analysis. His
industry experience
includes Chase Manhattan Bank, American Express and J. Crew. He has
worked in the student, affinity and co-brand markets. Bob earned a
Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications at the University of Wisconsin
at Madison, and received an M.B.A. in Marketing from New York University. (Top) |
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| Mitchell Uretsky, Managing
Associate—Mitch’s focus at ACG is on accounting-
and finance-related activities. This includes portfolio valuations,
financial analysis, performance measurement, strategic and business
planning, and some ACG Industry Roundtable management. He has
more than 20 years of experience in finance, technology and process
improvement with market leaders JPMorganChase and Ernst & Young.
By combining technical insights with management leadership, his projects
provide sustainable results and continuous improvement. Mitch’s
broad experience covers many retail financial businesses including
cards, mortgages, autos and branch banking. He earned his Master in
Business Administration from the New York University Stern School of
Business and is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt. (Top) |
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| Michael Viola,
Managing Associate—Mike
joined ACG in 2003 after several years in the IT sector, bringing with
him his technical and analytic proficiency. He manages several Industry
Roundtables in the US and UK. Mike’s extensive functional knowledge
enables him to offer expert advice on various types of consulting engagements
including; operational reviews, market assessments, and expert witness
support. Prior to Industry Roundtable management, Mike was responsible
for the creation and analysis of ACG’s benchmark studies across
multiple lines of business. He is a cum
laude graduate in business management from Stony Brook University. (Top) |
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| Steve Winsch, Managing Associate—Steve’s responsibilities are focused on the development of new ACG Roundtables, taking ideas from concept to launch. With a strong background in financial services, Steve brings a unique ability to analyze client needs and develop ACG Roundtable solutions to address those needs. Steve gained extensive experience serving the needs of Global Banks and Financial Services firms in the areas of Global Payments, OFAC Compliance and Anti-Money Laundering while at Accuity. In addition, his experience in Insurance and Ecommerce (International Shipping), allows him to navigate numerous other areas of client’s needs as well. (Top) |
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| Oded Caspi, Associate—Oded has a strong background in credit card acquisition, co-brand card portfolio management, relationship management as well as marketing and technology. He has responsibilities across all key lines of business in the UK including UK Cardbeat®, general consulting engagements and the UK Industry Roundtables and benchmarks. His industry experience combined with his analytical skills drive detailed and results oriented solutions. Prior to joining ACG, he held several roles at Citigroup’s cards unit in New York that spanned finance, acquisitions, relationship management and portfolio management. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Statistics from the Tel-Aviv University and a MBA from the Stern school of business at New York University. (Top) |
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| Melanie Effertz, Associate—Melanie
joined ACG after graduating cum laude from the State University
of New York at New Paltz with a business degree in marketing and communications.
Her primary responsibilities at ACG include benchmarking and support of
Industry Roundtables and consulting projects. Her meticulous organizational
skills and dedication enable Melanie to effectively manage multiple assignments
while providing clients with exceptional service. (Top) |
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| Daniel Helfgott, Associate—Dan
joined ACG after completing an M.B.A. at the College of William & Mary
Mason School of Business. At ACG, his primary responsibility is benchmarking performance measures and operational practices within our Industry Roundtable discipline,
but he is also involved with consulting projects. Dan has an analytical
ability and a willingness to engage people in actionable discussion. He
gained experience in sales and lending management at Riggs Bank and Savi
Technologies. (Top) |
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| Dylan O'Hearn,
Associate—Dylan received a B.A. in International Relations with a minor in Economics from Colgate University and joined ACG as an Associate in December 2008. Focusing primarily on the firm’s Industry Roundtables and benchmark services, Dylan utilizes scrupulous project management skills to create high quality deliverables for ACG clients. Past experience includes work in the Business Affairs department of SonyBMG New York.. (Top) |
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| Nancy Stahl,
Associate—Nancy brings to ACG a strong analytical background, hands-on administration and an exacting detail orientation, along with 20 years of market research experience. She serves as Editor of Cardbeat® and provides clients with business intelligence and consumer research services. Prior to ACG, she managed the full life cycle of research projects from questionnaire development to the analysis and final report, focusing on understanding consumer attitudes and perceptions and delivering on those needs. She has conducted various types of methodologies and has a well-rounded background that makes her a great addition to our Knowledge Management team. Nancy graduated valedictorian with a BA in Economics and Psychology from St. Lawrence University and holds an MBA, with distinction, in Marketing from Hofstra University. (Top) |
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| Scott Strumello,
Associate—Scott has a strong background in marketing,
research, analysis and operations. His principal responsibilities
at ACG support Knowledge Management projects. He also
provides valuable assistance in strategy and new product development
efforts, as well as data for financial modeling. Before joining ACG in 1998, Scott served in a variety of marketing
capacities with Household Credit Services, Wells Fargo and PNC National
Bank. (Top) |
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