Gerry Kramer

Gerry Kramer, a native New Yorker, has had a 35 year career as an economist, banker, consultant, teacher, entrepreneur, and author. He is a recognized authority on financial products, techniques and strategies for improving client revenue/ profit streams. Gerry started his career in the Texaco Inc. Treasury Department. From 1970-1980 Gerry worked at Chase Manhattan Bank starting as international economist for currency and country risk analysis and rising to Division Executive for Multinational Services, responsible for advising over 600 corporate accounts on global financial issues.

Gerry has been an adjunct professor at the Columbia University Graduate Business School, the University of South Carolina (Master's of International Business Program) and a guest lecturer at Yale and Cornell Universities. He has also spoken many times for the American Management Association, Management Centre Europe and at the EU Symposium.

In 1980 Gerry founded the Globecon Group. Over the next 21 years Gerry built his firm into a premier consultancy with 100 professionals and support staff contracting with different departments of the world's top banks and their executive teams. Traveling over two million miles (at one time the firm had offices in Sydney, London, Brussels and New York) he had the opportunity to deliver more than 1500 speeches, and extended workshops to more than 50,000 bankers, focusing on strategic business development, financial products, techniques and organizational issues-in a time of dramatic industry change resulting from consolidation, deregulation, capital market growth and prolific financial innovation.

Gerry and his firm published more than 40 books and 600 articles on financial techniques, products, markets, relationship building strategies, and case studies. Gerry was also the author of the highly respected Management Issues position paper series on bank strategies, leadership, management and cultural values.

As CEO, Gerry had hands-on experience with the design and execution of management policies and procedures. Dealing with issues such as motivation, performance assessments, training, compensation, bonuses, stock options, mission and value statements, hiring, firing, accounting, technology, profits, costs, and raising capital provided practical insight into clients' problems.

Gerry is a prolific reader, having taken a speed reading course in his youth. In the last 30 years he has read and collected thousands of management books, journals, and magazines. In addition, Gerry has an avid interest in personal skills development and self- improvement practices, especially those supportive of success in business and life in general. His personal library of over 5000 books, articles and case studies focuses on these subjects too.

In 2002, Gerry sold the company he founded to spend time with family and write more about the financial services industry. The results are a new book series and the founding of Gerry's new firm ZenFinance whose mission is to provide proven and practical resources to financial services professionals in support of their careers, personal life goals and aspirations.