Terry Smith stands aside to focus on fund business
City veteran Terry Smith is retiring as a director and deputy chairman of stockbroker Collins Stewart to focus on his new asset management venture Fundsmith.
Smith, one of the UK’s best-known investment bankers who led the management buyout of Collins Stewart after becoming chief executive in 2000, will remain chief executive of inter-dealer broker Tullett Prebon. Smith will leave on 6 December after almost two decades at the firm. He was its chairman from 2006-2010.
“I have enjoyed my 18 years at Collins Stewart. However, all good things must come to an end and I will now focus on Tullett Prebon and new challenges, in particular my new fund management venture Fundsmith. I wish the management and staff of Collins Stewart well and hope to see the business continue to succeed in the years to come,” Smith said.
The move into fund management will open another chapter in Smith’s varied 35-year career. He shot to fame when the top-rated banking analyst in the late 1980s, famously issuing a “sell” recommendation on Barclays while working for the bank’s own investment banking arm BZW.
He was sacked from UBS Phillips & Drew in 1992 after publishing “Accounting for Growth”, a best-selling book that criticised the accounting practices used by some of the biggest companies – including clients of UBS.
Collins Stewart chairman Tim Ingram said: “Terry Smith has been synonymous with Collins Stewart for many years and has been hugely influential in the development of the company and the creation of shareholder value. On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Terry for his contribution to the company and wish him well for the future.”
TERRY SMITH
DEPUTY CHAIRMAN
COLLINS STEWART
Terry Smith grew up in East London, attending Stratford Grammar School before graduating with a first in History from University College Cardiff in 1974. He worked for Barclays Bank from 1974 to 1983, becoming an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers and obtaining an MBA at The Management College, Henley. Smith became a stockbroker with W Greenwell & Co in 1984 and was the top-rated bank analyst in London from 1984 to 1989. In 1990 he was appointed head of UK company research at UBS Phillips & Drew, a position from which he was dismissed in 1992 following the publication of the best-selling book “Accounting for Growth”. Smith joined Collins Stewart shortly thereafter, and became a director in 1996 and chief executive in 2000, leading the management buy-out of the company, which was floated on the London Stock Exchange five months later. In 2003, Collins Stewart acquired Tullett Liberty, and then in 2004 acquired Prebon Group, creating the world’s second largest inter-dealer broker. Collins Stewart and Tullett Prebon were demerged in 2006.
Smith remains chief executive of Tullett Prebon and has launched a new fund management venture, Fundsmith.
A flying, sailing and shooting enthusiast, Smith is passionate about history and participates in competitive cycling and boxing. www.terrysmithblog.com