Stanley Fink, Baron Fink, (born 15 September 1957), is a British hedge fund manager and parliamentarian, who was formerly CEO of Man Group plc.
Created a Life Peer in 2011, Lord Fink sits on the Conservative Party benches in the House of Lords.www.debretts.com
Early life The son of Louis Fink and Janet née Stone, he was born in 1957 at Crumpsall, Lancashire, where his father ran a grocery store.Candice Krieger, Interview: Stanley Fink, The Jewish Chronicle, 18 September 2009 Fink was educated at Manchester Grammar School before going up to read law at Trinity Hall, Cambridge (graduating MA).Finance and philanthropy: The acceptable face of Capitalism – Business Analysis & Features, Business. The Independent (8 September 2006). Retrieved 19 November 2010.
Business career Fink started his career at the accountancy firm, Arthur Andersen, qualifying as FCA before briefly working for Mars Inc, then joining Citibank. He was chief executive officer of Man Group, a hedge fund, from 2000 to 2007.Preservation 'a cheap option'. Financial Times. (10 September 2008). Retrieved 19 November 2010., The Daily Telegraph, 16 January 2009 Described as the "godfather" of the UK hedge fund industry, he is credited with building the Man Group up to its FTSE 100 public company status, the largest listed hedge fund company in the world.London City based Financial, Business and Stock Market News. City AM Retrieved on 19 November 2010.
In September 2008, Fink came out of retirement to be chief executive of International Standard Asset Management (ISAM) in partnership with Lord Levy. Appointed chairman of ISAM in 2015, he retired from its board in December 2018.
In 2013, Fink featured on web reality TV show HF Lions' Den, when Lord Fink interviewed three emerging hedge fund managers, and allocated $25 million in investment between the three funds.
Fink was on the board of Marex until 2023 and was chairman and the largest shareholder of Zenith Hygiene Group for 10 years, which was sold to Bain Capital in 2018.Terms agreed for Bain Capital’s acquisition of Zenith Hygiene, The Caterer, 12 October 2017
Fink is a seed investor in Ecometrica,www.ecometrica.com an environmental software business headquartered in Edinburgh. An early investor in New Forests Company, among the largest sustainable forestry businesses in Africa operating in Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda, the company has become a market leader in the provision of sustainable wood and FSC-certified transmission poles throughout East Africa.www.newforests.net
In July 2018, Fink was appointed as Global Special Advisor to eToro.Global investment platform eToro has appointed Stanley Fink as Special Advisor to the business globally., Institutional Asset Manager, 16 July 2018 Later that year, the Fink family office was formed, which invests predominantly in PropTech, FinTech and EdTech ventures, and includes:
British Pearl – property investment platform: also chairman;British Pearl team, British Pearl, 10 June 2019 Farillio – speedy, easy law;UK startup Bud raises $20 mn to advance its Open Banking capabilities, IBS International, 4 February 2017 Bud – leaders in open banking;Legal tech startup Farillio nabs £650,000 in Angel funding, UK Tech News, 27 September 2019 Seneca Learning – a leading education platform;Tutor Trust and Seneca Learning – an exciting new partnership – 29th January 2019, Tutor Trust, 29 January 2019 PiTops – a leading STEM, creative learning company; Blackbullion – helping teach students financial literacy;www.parliament.uk, 29 January 2019 Project Etopia – leading modular building company, also chairman;The Times part owner of hotel group, K2, with 2 leading luxury hotels in Courchevel.Lord Fink: How the godfather of hedge funds made his fortune, The Independent, 25 February 2015
Political career In January 2009, Fink was appointed co-treasurer of the Conservative Party.New Tory Treasurer Stanley Fink plans to blow Labour out of water, The Daily Telegraph, 16 January 2009 Created a life peer on 18 January 2011, he took the title of Baron Fink, of Northwood in the County of Middlesex; Lord and Lady Fink were regular guests of David Cameron at Chequers and, after the resignation of Peter Cruddas over a cash-for-access controversy, Lord Fink returned as treasurer of the Conservative Party, to which he had previously given £2.62m:FT Research: from little acorns... he is among the top 20 biggest donors to the Conservative Party.Elizabeth Rigby, Gavin Jackson, George Parker, 'Tories double number of big City donors in five years: Miliband attacks 'party of Mayfair hedge funds and Monaco tax avoiders',' Financial Times, 5 February 2015, pp. 1; 20
In February 2015, Fink was accused by the Labour leader Ed Miliband of undertaking "tax avoidance activities". In reply, Fink called the statement "untrue and defamatory" and threatened to sue Miliband, challenging him to repeat the claim without the protection of parliamentary privilege or retract it. However, days later Fink stated that he did avoid tax, and that "everyone does tax avoidance at some level".
Philanthropy Lord Fink is Chairman of Governors at Ark Burlington Danes Academy, President of Evelina Children's Hospital and is on the Board of Trustees of the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies.www.ochjs.ac.uk In September 2009, he was appointed Chairman of Absolute Return for Kids.'Educashun News', Private Eye, No. 1245 (18 Sep – 1 October 2009), p. 15 In 2010, he and Cherie Blair attended a fundraiser for learning difficulties charity Norwood, of which he is a benefactor.A large crowd raises £3.3m for Norwood's services, The Jewish Chronicle, 23 November 2010
Personal life Interviewed by The Jewish Chronicle Fink said, "Being Jewish is part of what I am and it is an inheritance I am proud to pass on to my children" but also added, "I have accepted that, as we live in multi-cultural Britain, one of my children might not marry someone Jewish." According to the Sunday Times Rich List, Fink is worth an estimated £70 million.
In 1981 Fink married Barbara Paskin, by whom he has two sons, Jordan and Alex, and a daughter, Gabriella.www.burkespeerage.com
Lord and Lady Fink live in north London as well as owning properties in France and Spain.
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