Mitchell M. Merin

Last updated
Mitchell M. Merin
Born August 1953 (age 65)
Hartford, Connecticut
Alma mater Trinity College
Northwestern University
Occupation Financial Executive
Known for Former President and COO of Morgan Stanley Investment Management

Mitchell M. Merin (born August 1953 [1] ) served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Morgan Stanley's investment management division (MSIM) from 1998 to 2005.

The President is a leader of an organization, company, community, club, trade union, university or other group. The relationship between the president and the Chief Executive Officer varies, depending on the structure of the specific organization. In a similar vein to the Chief Operating Officer, the title of corporate President as a separate position is also loosely defined; the President is usually the legally recognized highest rank of corporate officer, ranking above the various Vice Presidents, but on its own generally considered subordinate, in practice, to the CEO. The powers of the president vary widely across organizations and such powers come from specific authorization in the bylaws like Robert's Rules of Order.

The chief operating officer (COO), also called the chief operations officer, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, comprising part of the "C-Suite". The COO is responsible for the daily operation of the company, and routinely reports to the highest-ranking executive, usually the chief executive officer (CEO).

Morgan Stanley U.S investment bank

Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in the Morgan Stanley Building, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in more than 42 countries and more than 55,000 employees, the firm's clients include corporations, governments, institutions and individuals. Morgan Stanley ranked No. 67 in the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.

Contents

Early life and education

Merin was born in August 1953 [1] in Hartford, Connecticut. [2] He earned a bachelor's degree in Economics from Trinity College in 1975 [3] and an MBA in finance and accounting from Northwestern University in 1977. [2]

Hartford, Connecticut Capital of Connecticut

Hartford is the capital city of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. The city is nicknamed the "Insurance Capital of the World", as it hosts many insurance company headquarters and is the region's major industry. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford area of Connecticut. Census estimates since the 2010 United States Census have indicated that Hartford is the fourth-largest city in Connecticut, behind the coastal cities of Bridgeport, New Haven, and Stamford.

Trinity College (Connecticut) College in Hartford, Connecticut

Trinity College is a private liberal arts college in Hartford, Connecticut. Founded as Washington College in 1823 as an alternative to Yale, it is the second-oldest college in the state of Connecticut.

Northwestern University Private research university in Illinois, United States

Northwestern University (NU) is a private research university based in Evanston, Illinois, United States, with other campuses located in Chicago and Doha, Qatar, and academic programs and facilities in Miami, Florida; Washington, D.C.; and San Francisco, California. Along with its undergraduate programs, Northwestern is known for its Kellogg School of Management, Pritzker School of Law, Feinberg School of Medicine, Bienen School of Music, Medill School of Journalism, and McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Early career and Dean Witter

Merin's first job was as an auditor for Touche Ross, at the time one of the Big Eight accounting firms. [2] After working on the Sears account for Touche Ross, Merin joined Sears in May 1981 as a manager of financial analysis. [2] While working on Sears' bid to acquire Dean Witter Reynolds, Merin met Philip Purcell in 1981, at the time Sears' senior vice president for corporate administration. Together, they launched the Discover Card in 1985, and when Purcell became CEO of Dean Witter in 1986 he quickly named Merin treasurer and gave him a mandate to serve as a liaison between Purcell and other Sears' executives. [2]

Sears, Roebuck and Company, colloquially known as Sears, is a chain of department stores founded by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck in 1893, reincorporated by Richard Sears and new partner Julius Rosenwald in 1906. Formerly based at the Sears Tower in Chicago and currently headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, the operation began as a mail ordering catalog company and began opening retail locations in 1925. The first location was in Evansville, Indiana. In 2005, the company was bought by the management of the American big box chain Kmart, which formed Sears Holdings upon completion of the merger.

Dean Witter Reynolds was an American stock brokerage and securities firm catering to retail clients. Prior to the company's acquisition, it was among the largest retail firms in the securities industry with over 9,000 account executives and was among the largest members of the New York Stock Exchange. The company served over 3.2 million clients primarily in the U.S. Dean Witter provided debt and equity underwriting and brokerage as mutual funds and other saving and investment products for individual investors. The company's asset management arm, Dean Witter InterCapital, with total assets of $90.0 billion prior to acquisition, was one of the largest asset management operations in the U.S.

Philip J. Purcell is an American businessman. Purcell is a former Chairman and CEO of Morgan Stanley, where he worked in the late 1990s and 2000s. He previously served as Chairman and CEO of Dean Witter, Discover and managed the firm under its ownership by Sears, Roebuck & Co. He subsequently became head of Continental Investors, a private equity firm that invests in Internet-enabled financial services and consumer companies.

In 1993 Dean Witter was spun off by Sears into a separate entity, and Purcell was made head of the new company. Purcell appointed Merin to key positions within the company, including chief administrative officer, [2] chief strategist, [2] executive vice president [4] and chief administrative officer. [4] Merin's final role within Dean Witter was to help oversee the 1997 merger of the company with Morgan Stanley. [1] [5]

Career at Morgan Stanley

After the departure of James Allwin in December 1998 Merin was named president and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the new Morgan Stanley Dean Witter's asset management division, [5] despite the fact that Merin did not have a background in asset management. [2] Because of Morgan Stanley's recent mergers and acquisitions, the firm contained four independently operating asset management units that had previously competed with one another and were reluctant to unify under the Morgan Stanley brand. [5] [2] Merin was tasked with unifying these operations, and by the end of 2000 had overseen a large increase in asset growth and a 10% reduction in expenses, [2] making the division one of the firm's most profitable businesses by 2005. [1]

Following the unification of these business divisions, Merin attempted to position the funds for more international growth, [5] but encountered difficulty as personnel changes and poor market conditions limited the growth the division was able to achieve, [6] and regulators took action against illegal fund sales and inappropriate incentivization of in-house funds. [1]

Exit from Morgan Stanley

Although a close ally of Purcell, and once considered a candidate to replace him as CEO of Morgan Stanley, [2] Merin's frequent transitions between businesses limited his ability to build the alliances necessary to become CEO himself. [6] Under pressure from Morgan Stanley shareholders, Merin announced his retirement in 2005. [4] He was succeeded within the investment management division by Owen D. Thomas. [7]

Outside Morgan Stanley

Merin served on several boards and industry committees. He was Chairman of the National Association of Securities Dealers Investment Companies committee [8] and Fixed Income Securities committee. [9] In 2012 Merin was named a JPMorgan Chase fund board trustee, [10] where he worked on the Audit and Valuation Committee, and chaired the Money Market and Alternative Products Committee. [9] He also served as a Trustee of Trinity College, and chaired its audit committee. [3]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Horowitz, Jed (September 14, 2005). "Morgan Stanley's Merin to Quit,Marking Further Purcell Fallout". Dow Jones Newswires. The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Blake, Rich (November 1, 2002). "Blue chipped". Institutional Investor. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Trinity Trustee Offers $2.5-million Investment in Hartford Students". Trinity Reporter. April 2007. p. 29. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 Gottlieb, Jenna (June 27, 2005). "Merin says he's staying at Morgan Stanley unit". Pensions & Investments. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Marshall, Julian (March 1, 2001). "MSDW breeds new runner in the fund management stakes". Euromoney. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  6. 1 2 Thomas Jr., Landon (September 14, 2005). "Division Head at Morgan Is Departing". The New York Times . Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  7. ↑ "Morgan Stanley TapsOwen Thomas to BeA Business Chief". The Wall Street Journal. December 17, 2005. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  8. ↑ "2002 Annual Financial Report" (PDF). NASD. July 1, 2003. p. 102. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  9. 1 2 "JPMorgan Institutional Trust Proxy Statement". Securities and Exchange Commission. June 18, 2014. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  10. ↑ Kerber, Ross (December 20, 2012). "JPMorgan names CUNY chancellor new funds chairman". Reuters . Retrieved 8 August 2018.
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