Martin Smith (banker)

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Sir Martin Gregory Smith is an English investment banker and philanthropist.

Early life

Smith was educated at St. Edmund Hall, Oxford University, where he studied theoretical physics, graduating in 1964. From 1969 to 1971 he attended Stanford Business School in California obtaining an MBA and a Master's degree in Economics.[1]

Career

On graduating from Oxford, Smith joined Arthur Guinness Son & Company in Dublin as a trainee brewer and remained with the company until 1969. In 1971, on leaving Stanford, he joined the management consulting firm McKinsey & Company in London as an Associate.[2]

In 1983 Smith became a founding partner of Phoenix Securities Limited (‘Phoenix’), a newly formed investment banking boutique specialising in advising the financial services industry.[3] Phoenix made its name as the leading advisor to the consolidation of the London Stock Exchange following its deregulation in October 1986 (the ‘Big Bang’)[4].

In 1997 Phoenix was acquired once again, this time by the US investment bank Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette (‘DLJ’) and Smith became Chairman of DLJ’s European investment banking business[5].

In 2000 Smith became a founding shareholder and Non-Executive Deputy Chairman of Henderson New Star Asset Management, a new investment management business created by John Duffield following the sale of his previous company, Jupiter Asset Management to Commerzbank[6]. In due course New Star was sold to Henderson Administration.

In 2005 he became Chairman and a founder shareholder of a recently created investment banking boutique specialising in the technology sector called GP Bullhound (‘GPB’). The firm has subsequently become a leader in its field, with some 180 employees in 12 offices in Europe, the US and Asia. Smith continues as Chairman Emeritus of GPB[7].

In addition, Smith has been Chairman, Board Member, or advisor to many other companies, including Oxford Capital Partners[8] and Worldwide Healthcare Trust.[9]

Public service and philanthropy

Music

In 1986 Smith played a key role in helping a group of young classical musicians to create a new player-run period instrument ensemble, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (‘OAE’). He served as a Board member of the OAE for the next 33 years, for the last 10 as Chairman. During this time the OAE has come to be recognised as one of the leading early music orchestras in the world. In 2019, in acknowledgement of his extraordinary contribution to the development of the OAE, Smith was elected Life President of the Orchestra[10].

From 1992 to 1997 Smith served as Deputy Chairman of the Southbank Centre.[11] Between 2000 and 2005 he served as Chairman of English National Opera, where he oversaw and was a lead donor to the £41m restoration of its home venue, the London Coliseum[12].

Smith acted as Chairman of the Bath Mozartfest from 2000 to 2009. He has also served on the governing bodies of the Royal Academy of Music, the Wigmore Hall, International Musicians Seminar, the Glyndebourne Festival Opera|Glyndebourne Arts Trust and the Tetbury Music Festival.[13]

Starting in the early 2000s, Smith began a journey as an amateur orchestral conductor[14]. His repertoire has included Handel’s Messiah, Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony, Dvorak’s New World Symphony, the Grieg Piano Concerto, and the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto. He has performed with the OAE, the Royal Academy of Music Orchestra[15], the Pleven Symphony Orchestra (Bulgaria) and Instruments of Time and Truth (‘ITT’) in Oxford.[16]

Education

Smith’s long-standing interest in the sciences has led to a close association with the London Science Museum, London|Science Museum, where he served as Deputy Chairman from 1999 to 2009. During this time his family endowed The Smith Centre within the museum as a location for carrying out educational activities and hosting significant friends and supporters of the museum[17].

He has also been a member of the Board of Visitors of the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford University, and a Governor of the Ditchley Foundation[18].

Environment

In 2007 the Smith family initiated and became founding benefactors of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment|Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at Oxford University[19]. This is an interdisciplinary research and teaching hub designed to bring academics with disciplines in Finance, Economics, Law and Enterprise together with public and private enterprise in pursuit of the goals of global net-zero emissions and sustainable development. The School, which has c.100 staff, launched its own MSc. in Sustainability, Enterprise and the Environment in 2021.

Since 2016 Smith has also been a Trustee of ClientEarth, the philanthropically funded environmental law charity which aims to use the power of the law to protect the earth and tackle climate change[20].

Personal life

In 1971 Smith married Elise Becket (Lady Smith OBE[21]) of Lakeville, Connecticut, USA. Lady Smith has had a career in musical administration, including founding the Tetbury Music Festival in 2003[22], and creating the Becket Collection of period musical instruments[23][24] housed at London’s Royal Academy of Music, where it forms the core of their historically informed performance programme.

Honours

Smith is a St. Edmund Fellow, of St Edmund Hall, Oxford|St. Edmund Hall, Oxford (2001)[25]; an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music (2003)[26]; an Honorary Fellow of The Science Museum (2009)[27]; and holds an Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy from the University of Gloucestershire (2017)[28].

In 2013 Smith was appointed a Knight Bachelor in the Queen’s New Year Honours for services to music, science and education.[29]

References

  1. ↑ "Martin Smith | St Edmund Fellow". St Edmund Hall. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  2. ↑ "The Founders". www.smithschool.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  3. ↑ Higgins, Charlotte; correspondent, arts (2005-12-16). "The Guardian Profile: Martin Smith". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  4. ↑ McKinsey&Company (2017). "McKinsey&Company Annual Review 2017" (PDF).
  5. ↑ "Phoenix sale leaves founders millionaires". The Independent. 1997-01-29. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
  6. ↑ CernoAdminCerno. "Advisory Board". Cerno Capital - Investment Management. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  7. ↑ "Sir Martin Smith". www.gpbullhound.com. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
  8. ↑ "Oxford Capital appoints Non-Exec Director". Private Equity Wire. 2021-02-01. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  9. ↑ "Investegate |Worldwide Healthcare Trust Plc Announcements | Worldwide Healthcare Trust Plc: Directorate Change". investegate.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  10. ↑ "Sir Martin Smith". Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
  11. ↑ "Sir Martin Smith | Ditchley Foundation". www.ditchley.com. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  12. ↑ Tusa, John (2007-02-21). Engaged with the Arts: Writings from the Frontline. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0-85773-637-6.
  13. ↑ "Sir Martin Smith | Ditchley Foundation". www.ditchley.com. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  14. ↑ "Banker with a baton". The Independent. 2005-03-07. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
  15. ↑ "Banker with a baton". The Independent. 2005-03-07. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  16. ↑ "Newsletter November 2016". Instruments of Time & Truth. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  17. ↑ "The Smith Centre". Hire The Science Museum. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
  18. ↑ "Sir Martin Smith | Ditchley Foundation". www.ditchley.com. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
  19. ↑ "The Founders". www.smithschool.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
  20. ↑ "Why we fight". www.clientearth.org. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
  21. ↑ "Elise SMITH | Order of the British Empire | The Gazette". www.thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  22. ↑ "Tetbury Music Festival | Contact Us". mysite. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  23. ↑ "Becket Collection". Royal Academy of Music. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
  24. ↑ "Me and my passion: Elise Becket Smith". Me and my passion: Elise Becket Smith. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  25. ↑ "Martin Smith | St Edmund Fellow". St Edmund Hall. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
  26. ↑ "Honours". Royal Academy of Music. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  27. ↑ "Science Museum Group Fellows". Science Museum Group. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
  28. ↑ "Honorary Awards". University of Gloucestershire. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
  29. ↑ "UK Government Publishing Service: New Year Honours 2013" (PDF).

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