ABOUT US
Ares Communications Group
ACG is a public relations and marketing firm focused on the fintech and financial Services industries.
ACG specializes in building client brands through a deep understanding of the financial services industry, and we are committed to content-based marketing that leverages our relationships with industry experts.
Our Team
Meet our team of talented and creative professionals.
Robert Misasi
FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT
Robert comes from a 30+ year career in financial services with extensive experience across the industry, having worked for: Deloitte & Touche LLP, Meridian Research, TowerGroup Inc., and most recently, at Mercator Advisory Group, where he served as President and Founder from its inception in 2003 until its sale in 2022.
He has spent the past 23 years listening to marketing and sales pitches at the corporate and product levels across financial services and consulted on buying decisions helping inform the firm’s marketing approach. He has spent his professional life working with and building relationships in the financial services industry.
He has had extensive client relationships providing services to the leading financial services firms in the US, having been responsible for the delivery of more than US$100 million in products and services for these institutions.,
He is a graduate of the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania with degrees in Accounting and Entrepreneurial Management.
Dan Murray
Advisor-to-CEO
Dan is a senior level advisor and management coach for the Financial Services and Fintech industries. He proves strategic thinking, implementation direction, business development and strategic alliances.
Dan has spent 40+ years serving the financial services sector. His extensive background includes leadership positions in marketing and management at American Express, CitiCorp, Chemical Bank/Manufacturers Hanover Trust, Co. and General Manager, USA at MasterCard.
Dan has worked directly with CEOs and management/marketing teams implementing national rollouts for financial services firms, product launches, brand development, logo design, and is always mindful of building brand equity and integrity.
Dan has been a business advisor for the past 20+ years, working with leadership teams to grow successful organizations. Most recently working with Robert Misasi in an Advisor-to-CEO capacity at Mercator Advisory Group, a market research firm in the payments industry, which was sold in 2022.
Brian Misasi
CFO
Brian is a finance professional with a CPA and a master’s degree in Accounting from Boston College. Brian began his career at Ernst and Young where he gained experiences across multiple industries including, software, manufacturing and real estate.
He has served the financial services industry for the past 15+ years working for First Marblehead (student loan origination and securitization), EBI Consulting (where he served as Controller and Director of FInancial Planning and Analysis), Mercator Advisory Group (as CFO through its sale to Escalent) and the Colony Group (as Corporate Controller).
Brian brings deep experience in financial control and planning, accounting, and operational management.
Nathan Sugerman
DIRECTOR, DIGITAL MARKETING
Nathan is the Director of Digital Marketing for Ares Communications Group and our media properties. He is responsible for community development for Go-to-Market (GTM) programs and digital transformation efforts for both ACG and our client initiatives.
Nathan most recently held a position with ANNUITAS, where he served as a GTM consultant responsible for strategic growth. Prior to this, Nathan worked for demandDrive, where he held management roles in both business development and marketing serving multiple clients with their efforts to drive growth through online marketing and communications. Nathan has experience working across industries including: manufacturing, healthcare, finance and technology.
Nathan has helped startup, series-funded, and enterprise organizations decrease costs of digital communications, while increasing returns-on-investments made within marketing, sales, and business development.
Nathan’s expertise is in execution using the many facets that make up digital marketing and communications programs. Particular specialization in email marketing, search engine optimization/management (SEO/SEM), analytics and metrics, CMS/CRM systems and related integrations. All of this leads to effectiveness in managing, analyzing, and outputting revenue-positive digital programs by putting transparent communications at the forefront of every initiative.
Nathan has an M.A. in Communications – Digital & Media from the Harrington School of Communications and Media at the University of Rhode Island.
Ed Medina
EDITOR AND PLATFORM DIRECTOR, FINTECHWIRE / M.E. &
COMMS. SPECIALIST, BANKING
Ed Medina is the Editor of FintechWire, and Managing Editor and Communications Specialist, Banking for Ares Communications Group. Ed manages BanktechWire and our banking community.
Ed is a Pulitzer Prize and Emmy winning editor with an extensive background in journalism, media and marketing.
Ed has held multimedia director positions at the Boston Globe, The Associated Press, and Boston.com for many years, and as an independent content marketing provider he managed a number of clients in the banking and lending industries.
Born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Ed was a Hughes Scholar at the University of Kansas where he graduated with degrees in English and Biology, and he is currently studying Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning through MIT’s Professional Education program at the School of Engineering.
Through his career Ed has covered stories such as the priest sex abuse crisis, gay marriage, the 2004 World Series, the Hurricane Katrina aftermath, as well as The Globe’s annual Globe 100 business rankings.
Rachel Gore
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, INSURANCE
Rachel Gore is Contributing Editor, Insurance for Ares Communications Group.
Rachel has 5+ years of marketing and writing experience, serving as a content marketer, editor and new writer at several organizations. She has direct experience working as a content marketing specialist for a B2B tech startup where she produced targeted content and media for selected audiences at each stage of the marketing funnel.
Before that, Rachel spent multiple years as a staff writer for the payments industry news site PaymentsJournal, where she reported on many aspects of the payments landscape. She also has experience working as a staff writer for a Tampa-based marketing and consulting agency focusing on personal injury law.
Rachel is currently obtaining her M.S. in Digital Marketing and Design from Brandeis University, where she is mastering in digital marketing strategy and UX/UI design.
Brent Watters
COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST AND MANAGING EDITOR, SECURITIES
Brent Watters brings a rich media, marketing and publishing history with 15+ years of experience within the financial services sector to his role at Ares Communications.
Brent’s early editorial experience was with prominent Chicago newspapers, including a division of the Sun-Times. Brent then transitioned into business/trade publications with a further specialization within financial services, holding pivotal editorial responsibilities at esteemed financial service publications such as SourceMedia (now Arizent), Prepaid Trends, and Paybefore.
Leveraging his media and communications skills, Brent served as the Director of Marketing at Mercator Advisory Group and saw the firm through a successful build and launch of PaymentsJournal. Since 2019, Brent has served in marketing leadership roles at several firms, most recently with Aliaswire, a Boston-based fintech as well as B4B Payments, a prominent UK-based fintech.
Brent’s technology background has included senior marketing, management and product positions at Lux Research, the Robotics division of EH Publishing, and Marketing Director for Vecna Robotics.
Cathy Cohen
OFFICE MANAGER
Cathy keeps ACG functioning at a high level.
Cathy is a visionary executive office manager with the ability to handle any situation with professionalism, warmth and a personal touch. She is able to manage essential office responsibilities by generating reports, booking appointments, arranging meetings, reordering supplies, and ensuring consistently efficient operations, while handling inbound calls and assisting ACG leadership directly.
Cathy is a collaborative team-player with the ability to anticipate the needs of other professionals with a focus on ensuring a seamless and positive experience for leadership, staff, and clients. She is able to provide real-time scheduling support within fast-paced, high-profile environments.
Cathy has an exceptional work ethic, is known to follow through on commitments and responsibilities with an appropriate and deliberate sense of urgency .
Advisory Board
Robert Iati
Board Advisor for Ares Communications Group
CEO & Managing Director, Burton-Taylor International Consulting
Bob Iati is a recognized capital markets industry expert with more than 35 years of wide-ranging experience in operations, data management and technology in global markets. Bob’s experience includes his current role as CEO of Burton Taylor International Consulting, responsible for the business of the leading research and advisory business focusing on the capital markets data industry. He also has been a Board Advisor to Ares Communication Group since its launch in 2023.
Prior to assuming his current position, Bob was Partner with TABB Group, presiding over the company’s rise from startup to the most respected research brand in capital markets. After heading up its research business for four years, Bob led TABB’s private engagements, as Partner & Global Head of Consulting Services, managing successful business strategy assessments for sell-side and buy-side clients. Prior to his time with TABB Group, Bob was a well-regarded analyst in the industry, cultivated during his seven years as the Research Director for TowerGroup’s Capital Markets practice. He has held senior positions at Lehman Brothers and Deutsche Bank Securities.
Bob’s experience covers areas of data management, IT strategy and implementation, securities operations training, planning, and development. He has been a frequent industry presenter and has appeared on broadcast news and in print. Bob holds an M.B.A. in finance and information systems from Rutgers Graduate School of Management and earned a B.A. degree in economics from Rutgers University. He also served on the faculty of the New York Institute of Finance and the Securities Operations Forum and has lectured at New York University and at SIFMA’s Securities Industry Institute workshop for the Wharton School of Business Executive Education Program.
Rob McIsaac
Board Advisor for Ares Communications Group
CEO and President, RPM Ventures NC, LLC.
Rob McIsaac, FLMI, LLIF, MBA, is the President and CEO of RPM Ventures NC, LLC, an organization focused on developing deep and actionable insights that are specific to the insurance industry in North America.
Prior to creating this, Rob served as an Executive Principal at Novarica (now Datos Insights), a technology research and advisory firm, where he leveraged his expertise in IT leadership and transformation as well as technology and business strategy for life, annuities, wealth management, and banking.
Rob has broad experience in IT strategy and management in the insurance and financial services industries. Prior to joining Novarica, he served in a series of senior technology management positions including leading the Business Transformation Office at Nationwide Insurance, and as the Enterprise CIO for First Citizens Bank. Rob spent the majority of his earlier career at Guardian Life, where he was the Divisional CIO responsible for annuity, distribution and broker dealer operations, and at Prudential Insurance, where he held a variety of positions including leading e-Business development efforts.
Rob holds a BA in Economics from Montclair State University, an MBA in Information Systems from Seton Hall University, and has received a number of business and technical designations from both LOMA/LIMRA and MIT.
Tim Nargassans
FinTech Product, Data & Strategic Transformational Change Leader
Financial services and payments executive with over 25 years of multi-industry experience across events, construction, banking, merchant, capital markets, and cloud platforms. Over the last 13 years in various executive roles at FIS, Worldpay, Vantiv, and Saylent Tim delivered winning strategies, cutting-edge product suites, and disruptive business capabilities; including the FIS’ Ethos Analytics Portal, Data Marketplace, and Platform as a Service (PaaS) offerings; as well as creating and leading PaymentsEdge, the company’s first-ever client data group to consult bank, credit union, and FinTech C-Suites on how to maximize their portfolios through analytics.
Tim is a relentless customer advocate that gets excited about innovative product deliveries, meaningful transformational change, and delivering maximum value through collaborative design thinking approaches synched with common-sense agile methodologies. As a universal translator between business value and technical enablement, Tim has demonstrated his ability to connect disparate opportunities, solve complex data challenges, and design memorable digital experiences that customers love.
Tim is a Board Advisor for Ares Communication Group and is currently exploring his next opportunity while consulting and contributing freelance thought leadership. Connect with him on LinkedIn to start a conversation.
Ken Paterson
Board Advisor
Ken is a veteran financial services industry professional. He has over 30+ years of financial services experience ranging from market research, strategic planning and consulting. Ken has worked in leadership roles at Mercator Advisory Group, HNW, SpectremGroup, FICO, Visa International, Visa USA, and Bank of Boston.
Working at Spectrem Group and HNW, Ken had over 12 years experience conducting market research, strategic consulting, and marketing strategy focused on the wealth segments. Ken served as Director of Research for the Mercator Advisory Group, a payments industry market research company until 2021.
Ken has significant experience working in startup environments. He has direct experience working with media firms and has been widely quoted within the trade press and mainstream media throughout his career. He has extensive direct experience working to support marketing and go-to-market campaigns and initiatives.
Ken holds a BA from Bates College and an MSW in applied research from Boston College.
Tim Sloane
Board Advisor
Tim has served the fintech and financial services communities for more than 30 years. He has tracked technology innovation, insights and strategic implications throughout his career.
Tim has held leadership positions as a Director at Wang Labs, Director at Aberdeen Group, VP Technology at Tilion, and the VP of Payments Innovation and Director of the Emerging Technologies practice at Mercator Advisory Group. He has served these organizations in many capacities including: product development, technology and market research leadership roles.
Tim has significant experience working in startup environments. He has direct experience working with media firms and has been widely quoted within the trade press and mainstream media throughout his career. He has extensive experience working to support marketing and go-to-market campaigns and initiatives.
