Stephen Zimmerman | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 1949 |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Known for | deputy chairman and co-head of Mercury Asset Management (1990 to 2001) |
Stephen Anthony Zimmerman (born April 1949) [1] is a British investment manager best known for his tenure as deputy chairman and co-head of Mercury Asset Management (MAM) during the 1990s, a period in which he worked in close partnership with Carol Galley.
Zimmerman joined City of London investment bank S.G. Warburg & Co. in 1971, becoming a director of investment subsidiary, Mercury Asset Management in 1979 and deputy chairman from 1990. [2] Along with Galley, who joined the company at the same time, Zimmerman has been credited with driving the growth of Mercury Asset Management during the 1980s and 1990s. [3]
The author Philip Augar wrote of Mercury in the 1980s and 1990s: “Under the leadership of [Peter] Stormonth Darling and then the triumvirate of Hugh Stevenson, Carol Galley and Stephen Zimmerman, Mercury caught the rising tide of instructional investment in the UK quite brilliantly.” [4]
Following the sale of Mercury to Merrill Lynch in 1997, Zimmerman stayed on with Galley to lead the integration process as co-heads. [5] They announced their departure simultaneously in March 2001, maintaining the parallel career paths they had followed for three decades. [3] Commenting on his exit, Zimmerman told The Wall Street Journal that he ‘wouldn’t be surprised to end up sharing an office with [Galley] again’. [6] Writing at the same time, The Daily Telegraph columnist, Neil Collins, predicted they’d set up a boutique investment firm together. [7]
In the 2003, Zimmerman did set up a boutique, but with other ex-Merrill colleagues, Michael Marks and Paul Roy (as opposed to Galley, who remained in retirement). [8] The new Venture was called NewSmith in a nod, Smith New Court, another City institution bought by Merrill Lynch in the 1990s and previously run by Marks and Roy. NewSmith did well during the financial crisis, [9] though asset under management declined during the following decade. In an echo of his departure from Merrill Lynch, Zimmerman retired at the same time as co-founder, Marks (NewSmith was acquired by Man Group less than a year later [10] ). [11]
Zimmerman has been active in supporting London-based Jewish charities. Of particular note, he was chairman of Jewish Care from 2006 to 2011, [12] [13] and remains an honorary president. [14]