Pacific Exchange Names Leopold Korins as President
Leopold Korins, managing director of a Merrill Lynch subsidiary, was named president of the Pacific Stock Exchange effective Jan. 22.
Korins, who began his 32-year career at Merrill as an account executive, is also expected to replace Maurice Mann as chief executive of the exchange when the board meets on Jan. 25.
Mann, who has been chairman and chief executive of the regional exchange since early 1987, will remain as chairman and a consultant. He plans to pursue “outside interests,” according to the exchange. He was not available for comment Tuesday.
“Dr. Mann has fulfilled the goals that were established for him when he became head of the PSE in early 1987,” Charles S. La Follette, a member of the board of governors, said in a prepared statement. “He has overseen successful implementation of major technological change at the PSE and fundamental restructuring of many of our businesses.”
However, exchange members said there had been rising dissatisfaction with Mann’s performance during his tenure, largely due to his autocratic style, which made it difficult to attract top-level employees.
Indeed, during Mann’s tenure, the exchange went through two presidents--Herbert G. Kawahara and James Gallagher. The presidency has been vacant since June 1, when Kawahara resigned to become a private consultant.
The search committee looking for a replacement for Kawahara “found that not that many people wanted to work for Mann,” said one local securities industry executive.
Although other industry executives lauded Mann’s intellect, they complained that he was unable to attract a significant number of new members to the exchange or come up with a cohesive long-term marketing plan that would make the exchange competitive in the 1990s.
Korins was named managing director of Broadcort Capital, Merrill Lynch’s clearing house subsidiary, last year. He previously served as director of product marketing and sales at Broadcort and held a number of lesser titles at Merrill Lynch.
