Honorific Prefix: | The Right Honourable |
The Lord Fink | |
Birth Name: | Stanley Fink |
Office7: | Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal |
Term Start7: | 18 January 2011 |
Term End7: | for life |
Birth Place: | Manchester, Lancashire, UK |
Residence: | London |
Nationality: | British |
Known For: | Financial services |
Education: | Manchester Grammar School, Trinity Hall, Cambridge. |
Occupation: | Financier |
Party: | Conservative |
Spouse: | Barbara née Paskin |
Children: | Hon. Jordan Fink, Hon. Alexander Fink, Hon. Gabriella Fink |
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.[1]
The son of Louis Fink and Janet née Stone, he was born in 1957 at Crumpsall, Lancashire, where his father ran a grocery store.[2] Fink was educated at Manchester Grammar School before going up to read Law at Trinity Hall, Cambridge (graduating MA).[3]
Fink started his career at the accountancy firm, Arthur Andersen, qualifying as FCA before briefly working for Mars Inc, then joining Citibank.[3] He served as chief executive officer of Man Group, a hedge fund, from 2000 to 2007.[4] [5] 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.[6]
In September 2008, Fink came out of retirement to serve as chief executive of International Standard Asset Management (ISAM) in partnership with Lord Levy.[7] 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.[8]
Fink served 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.[9]
Fink is a seed investor in Ecometrica,[10] a leading environmental software business which, headquartered in Edinburgh, operates globally. 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.[11]
In July 2018, Fink was appointed as Global Special Advisor to eToro.[12] Later that year, the Fink family office was formed,[13] which invests predominantly in PropTech, FinTech and EdTech ventures, and includes:
In January 2009, Fink was appointed co-treasurer of the Conservative Party.[21] 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[22] 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:[23] he is among the top 20 biggest donors to the Conservative Party.[24]
In February 2015, Fink was erroneously accused by the Labour leader Ed Miliband of undertaking "tax evasion activities".[25] In reply, he stated simply that not only he avoided tax, but that "everyone does tax avoidance at some level".[26]
Lord Fink is Chairman of Governors at Ark Burlington Danes Academy, President of Evelina Children's Hospital and serves on the Board of Trustees of the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies.[27] In September 2009, he was appointed Chairman of Absolute Return for Kids.[28] In 2010, he and Cherie Blair attended a fundraiser for learning difficulties charity Norwood, of which he is a benefactor.[29]
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.[30]
In 1981 Fink married Barbara Paskin,[29] by whom he has two sons, Jordan and Alex, and a daughter, Gabriella.[31]
Lord and Lady Fink live in north London as well as owning properties in France and Spain.[3]
Coronet: | That of a Baron |
Escutcheon: | Azure a Pale between two Skis palewise Argent. |
Crest: | A Hedgehog Sable grasping with the dexter forefoot a Menorah of nine branches Or. |
Supporters: | On either side a Stag Or supporting a Golf Club head upwards Sable. |
Motto: | Faber est suæ quisque fortunæ (Latin) (Eng.) Everyone is the maker of his own fortune |