CRM’s founding partners, Gerry Cramer, Ed Rosenthal, and Ron McGlynn, met in the 1970s. They shared a common interest in investing for themselves and their clients, which led them to found CRM in 1973 as a value equity investment specialist. To implement their vision, they developed an investment philosophy and process based on identifying businesses undergoing change and neglected by other investors. This method was designed to provide clients with good investment returns while taking a prudent level of risk.
In September 2019, the current generation of employees repurchased the entire ownership stake of Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn from M&T Bank. With the closing of this transaction, CRM once again became 100% employee owned. This agreement was reached with CRM employees investing in themselves without the assistance of third-party debt or capital. With the finalization of this deal, the employees of CRM completed a long-held goal of repurchasing the firm in order to better align our interests with those of our clients and stakeholders. We believe this transaction also enhances our ability to retain and attract top investment talent and focus all our resources on creating value for our clients.
CRM has always had a strong entrepreneurial mindset and this transaction further enhances our unique culture with a focus on differentiated, concentrated investing. The enhancements we have made to our investment process and portfolio construction over the past few years position us well to continue to generate alpha for our clients, well into the future. We feel these changes put us in a good position to separate ourselves from other active managers and take advantage of the change and evolution of the marketplace.
Ronald H. McGlynn
Ron is one of the co-founders of CRM and retired in 2019. Ron became President of CRM in 1983, Chief Executive Officer in 1998, and Chairman in 2005. Prior to CRM, Ron was a portfolio manager and an investment analyst for Chase Manhattan Bank, Standard & Poor’s InterCapital, and Oppenheimer & Company. He earned a BA from Williams College and an MBA from Columbia University Business School. Ron serves as Chairman of the Investment Committee on the Board of Trustees at Winthrop University Hospital.
Edward J. Rosenthal, Former Vice Chairman Emeritus
Gerald B. Cramer, Former Chairman Emeritus
Our dear friends, mentors, and dedicated philanthropists, Ed and Gerry, passed away in November 2009 and February 2018, respectively.