Mitchell M. Merin (born August 1953
) served as
President
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*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
and
Chief Operating Officer
A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the "C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if t ...
of
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment management and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in more than 41 countries and more than 75,000 employees, the fir ...
's
investment management
Investment management is the professional asset management of various securities, including shareholdings, bonds, and other assets, such as real estate, to meet specified investment goals for the benefit of investors. Investors may be institut ...
division (MSIM) from 1998 to 2005.
Early life and education
Merin was born in August 1953
in
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
.
He earned a bachelor's degree in Economics from
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to:
Australia
* Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales
* Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
in 1975
and an MBA in finance and accounting from
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world.
Charte ...
in 1977.
Early career and Dean Witter
Merin's first job was as an auditor for
Touche Ross
Touché, Touche, Latouche, La Touche, or de la Touche may refer to:
Sports
* Touché (fencing), French for "touched", a term used to acknowledge a hit
Arts and entertainment
* ''Touché'' (Hush album), by Australian band Hush, 1977
* ''Touchà ...
, at the time one of the
Big Eight accounting firms.
After working on the
Sears account for Touche Ross, Merin joined Sears in May 1981 as a manager of financial analysis.
While working on Sears' bid to acquire
Dean Witter Reynolds
Dean Witter Reynolds was an American Brokerage firm, stock brokerage and securities firm catering to a variety of clients. Prior to the company's acquisition, it was among the largest firms in the securities industry with over 9,000 account execu ...
, 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.
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,
chief strategist,
executive vice president
and chief administrative officer.
Merin's final role within Dean Witter was to help oversee the 1997 merger of the company with
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment management and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in more than 41 countries and more than 75,000 employees, the fir ...
.
Career at Morgan Stanley
After the departure of James Allwin in December 1998 Merin was named president and
Chief Operating Officer
A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the "C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if t ...
(COO) of the new Morgan Stanley Dean Witter's asset management division,
despite the fact that Merin did not have a background in asset management.
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.
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,
making the division one of the firm's most profitable businesses by 2005.
Following the unification of these business divisions, Merin attempted to position the funds for more international growth,
but encountered difficulty as personnel changes and poor market conditions limited the growth the division was able to achieve,
and regulators took action against illegal fund sales and inappropriate incentivization of in-house funds.
Exit from Morgan Stanley
Although a close ally of Purcell, and once considered a candidate to replace him as
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of Morgan Stanley,
Merin's frequent transitions between businesses limited his ability to build the alliances necessary to become CEO himself.
Under pressure from Morgan Stanley shareholders, Merin announced his retirement in 2005.
He was succeeded within the investment management division by
Owen D. Thomas.
Outside Morgan Stanley
Merin served on several boards and industry committees. He was Chairman of the
National Association of Securities Dealers Investment Companies committee
and Fixed Income Securities committee.
In 2012 Merin was named a
JPMorgan Chase
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. As of 2022, JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States, the ...
fund board trustee,
where he worked on the Audit and Valuation Committee, and chaired the Money Market and Alternative Products Committee.
He also served as a Trustee of Trinity College, and chaired its audit committee.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Merin, Mitchell M.
American chief operating officers
1953 births
Living people
Morgan Stanley employees