Ron Coby, Founder
Ron Coby’s career in financial services spans over 24 years. From 1987 to 1988, he was a Margin Clerk for Broad Court Capital; a division of Merrill Lynch, in New York City. Ron then worked for Paulson Investments in 1988 and later became vice president syndicating initial public offerings.
In 1995, Ron co-founded Despain & Coby, an Oregon-based private equity fund, which later became Coby Capital Management from 2001 until 2006. He founded Performance Equity Consulting where he consulted publicly traded companies and as Managing Member of Viewpoint Securities.
In May 2008, Ron co-founded Coby Lamson Capital Management a money management firm, with his partner, Dennis Lamson in Medford, OR, which became Strategic Financial Management, Inc. in October 2011. Ron’s day to day attention is now focused on the company he co-founded called Grail Investments, LLC, which acts as the General Partner of the Questus Fund, LP. He is also the co-owner of Questus Analytics, LLC, where he writes an investment newsletter for Stansberry and Associates, the world’s largest publisher of investment newsletters.
Ron graduated from Cleveland State University in 1986 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing. He is the author of “The Upside of Down” released by Wiley in February 2009.
Dennis Lamson, Founder
Dennis Lamson has a financial services career spanning over 25 years. He has been employed as a registered representative with a number of large institutional broker-dealers including Dain Rauscher (1992-1998), where he was a Vice President and Branch Manager in Medford, Or, and Merrill Lynch (1998-2000), where he also served as a Vice President and Branch Manager also in Medford, Or.
From February 2000 to 2010, Mr. Lamson was the principal of Geyser Futures, Inc., an NFA- and CFTC-registered Introducing Broker guaranteed by Vision Financial Markets.
Additionally, since February 2008, Mr. Lamson has been principal of Lamson Capital Management, Inc., which became Strategic Financial Management, Inc. in October 2011. Mr. Lamson is the creator of the proprietary trading indicator “The Grail.” The Grail is an integral element of all trading models offered by Strategic Financial Management. Mr. Lamson is also the co-founder of Grail Investments, LLC which acts as the General Partner of the Questus Fund, LP. He is also the co-owner of Questus Analytics, LLC, where he writes an investment newsletter for Stansberry and Associates, the world’s largest publisher of investment newsletters.
Will Reishman, Investment Advisor Representative, Senior Portfolio Manager
Will Reishman began his career in the investment business as a commodities broker in 1976. He joined Bache & Co. a few years later as both a stock and commodities broker. He has been an active student, participant, and professional in the financial arena ever since. Will has extensive experience at major wire-house firms, such as Pru-Bache and Paine Webber, as well as premiere regionals like Dain Bosworth/Rauscher. Beginning in 2001, he spent seven years as branch manager of Euro Pacific Capital’s office in Medford, Oregon.
In 2008, Will joined with two close friends to form the investment management firm of Coby Lamson Capital Management, Inc., now Strategic Financial Management, Inc. As the ‘90’s stock market bubble reached its climax, Will was one of the few professionals in his community sounding the alarm. In November 2002, he published a report titled “The Coming Dollar Crisis, Why it is inevitable and what you can do about it.” He remains an outspoken proponent of sound money and classical free-market economics, and is a regular commentator on financial markets and the economy for several Southern Oregon radio stations. Will is currently the senior editor of The UnDollar Digest (www.undollars.com).
Mr. Reishman is a 1968 graduate of the University of Notre Dame and a Danforth Fellow. He and his family moved to Oregon’s Rogue Valley from the Hudson River Valley in early 1989. He and wife recently purchased a 5-acre mini-farm 30 miles from town, where they are diligently preparing for a more self-sufficient life-style.
Chad Swanson, Investment Advisor Representative, Portfolio Manager
Chad Swanson is an Investment Advisor Representative with Strategic Financial Management, Inc. With over 12 years of experience in the field, he has worked for some of the largest independent and wirehouse Advisory Firms, bringing a unique and multi-faceted perspective to the team. From assisting clients with opening new accounts to sophisticated estate planning concepts, Mr. Swanson has been involved with every stage of the investment management process for both individuals and institutions. Along with trading large blocks of equities and ETFs and building taxable and municipal bond ladders, he has helped create financial plans and asset allocation models, researched and selected outside managers, and worked with attorneys and CPAs in coordinating tax efficient strategies.
In 2004, Chad began researching and studying the precious metals sector. Convinced of the upside potential and wealth preservation characteristics, he began shifting client assets into gold and silver starting in 2005 as new investment vehicles became available.
Working for independent firms FNIC and LPL from 1999-2002, Mr. Swanson then spent time at Morgan Stanley and Swiss Bank UBS. Most recently, he served as Business Manager and Primary Trader for The Pacific Wealth Group at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, overseeing more than $600 million of assets under management.
Chad grew up in Hawaii, attending Hawaii Preparatory Academy on the Big Island, and then studied economics at the University of California at San Diego. He also holds a degree in Biblical Studies from Calvary Chapel Bible College. He and his wife Tiffany are the proud parents of five children.
Michelle M. Erwin, Client Development
Michelle has been a part of the financial services industry since 1982 where she joined a commodities trading powerhouse, the legendary Commodities Corporation. Commodities Corporation included within its ranks twenty of the most successful futures traders in history. While many futures trading legends bloomed during her tenure at the company, Michelle was able to work directly with Michael Marcus, whom many consider one of the best traders of all-time. Marcus’ stellar career is featured in the seminal futures trading book, Market Wizards. While working as one of Mr. Marcus’s trading assistants, Michelle learned the disciplines needed to be a successful futures trader. With the goal to learn all aspects of the business, Michelle became a licensed commodities broker and worked with some of the top wire houses. Her unique background equipped her with a broad understanding of several risk management strategies. She is able to implement, communicate and execute complex strategies to any interested investor.
After retiring to raise her children. she decided to re-enter the investment industry. Michelle had no desire to work for a large wire or retail financial company. Committed to finding the right company that matches her market philosophy, she joined Strategic Financial Management. The strategies and risk- management methodologies the company employs is a perfect match with her unique set of skills and experience.
Bob Scott IT Director
Bob Scott has been studying computer systems and developing software for 35 years. He is still amazed that you can get paid to do programming because it is so easy and so much fun.
After 4 years at MIT’s Sloan School of Management as an undergrad and 1 year at Carnegie Mellon to earn an MSIA, Bob spent 4 years in Germany and Tulsa repaying the Army. He then worked on major software development projects for companies in Tulsa, Paris (France), and Dallas, winding up as a Technical Department Manager for a large Silicon Valley company. The next 10 years were spent earning an MDiv in St. Louis and planting a church in Pleasanton, CA, before moving to Medford in 1998, where Bob has done contract programming for local companies.
Bob is also an avid student of geopolitics and thinks it’s fun to analyze companies, particularly in the mining sector. He has worked closely with Will Reishman in this regard and is the “Research Bob” mentioned in Ron Coby’s book.
Melissa Olsen, Executive Assistant
