NewSmith opens in New York

London, Monday, September 04, 2006

NewSmith Capital Partners has appointed Jefferson E. Hughes Jr. and Suzanne M. Crosby as Partners in the Firm, working from its new U.S. offices at 717 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan.

NewSmith Capital Partners (U.S.) will open for business on 15 September, and will represent all the activities of NewSmith Capital Partners LLP in the United States.

Jeff Hughes, who will head the new office, has a distinguished Wall Street career spanning more than 30 years at Merrill Lynch, which he joined in 1972. Most recently Jeff was Chairman of Merrill’s Global Markets and Investment Banking business in Latin America and Canada, and Head of Global Relationship Management, coordinating coverage of the Firm’s most important institutional investors and private clients.

Sue Crosby, who is responsible for marketing NewSmith products and services in North America, was formerly head of the Endowment & Foundation Practice for Merrill Lynch Global Markets and Investment Banking. Before Merrill, she held senior marketing roles at Morgan Stanley Capital International, United Asset Management and Standard & Poor’s.

Jeff and Sue’s activities will include working with existing U.S. clients, identifying new distribution channels and investors, sourcing investment strategies and portfolio management teams for NewSmith’s asset management business and marketing the expertise of NewSmith Financial Solutions, the Firm’s institutional and corporate advisory business specializing in CDO workouts and event-driven structured finance.

NewSmith’s Paul Roy said, “We are all delighted that Jeff and Sue have joined us to strengthen our presence in the United States. The office in New York will bring us closer to our North American clients, and help us to forge new relationships in the world’s biggest financial market.”

The New York office is the fifth global location for the Firm, following London and Singapore in 2003, Hong Kong in 2005 and Tokyo in January 2006.