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The oldest name The Brown name, while not as dominant in American investment banking as the Morgan name, has the longest history. Alexander Brown, an auctioneer from Northern Ireland, emigrated to the United States and in Baltimore, established an eponymous firm that is now America's oldest investment bank -- BT Alex. Brown. His sons, the Brown Brothers of England -- William, George, John, and James -- followed in their father's footsteps. In 1810, William founded a merchant bank in England (called Brown Shipley). George and John branched out to Philadelphia in 1818 as Brown Brothers & Co, and then James established the New York office in 1825. Today, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. is America's oldest owner-managed private bank. After its founding in America, and in partnership with the Brown Shipley, the firm established offices in New York (1825) and Boston (1845), making its money by financing the textile industry and other forms of trade and transportation, and capturing a sizable portion of the East India trade. The transatlantic partnership ended in 1917. In 1931, Brown Brothers combined its business and client base with two other family-owned firms with serious pedigrees -- they had been founded by members of the famed Harriman family (one was founded by W. Averell Harriman, who became Governor of New York). Still old school Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. provides commercial and private banking, global custody of securities, and investment advisory services from nine domestic and seven international offices. The firm is perhaps the epitome of the old-school, private banking stereotype, (think the old guys in the Eddie Murphy flick Trading Places), in both its practice and its reputation. The firm's client base focuses more than other financial services firms on private companies and wealthy individuals. And it wasn't until 1998 that the firm named its first two women partners (who now have ownership stakes) -- Susan C. Livingston and Kristen Fitzwilliam Giarrusso. Global finance Reflecting its European origins, BBH & Co. retains a heavy international flavor. Its custodial businesses (which entails actually keeping the documentation that shows that a customer, say a mutual fund, owns securities) is highly regarded -- in 1997 the firm ranked most highly in a survey of mutual funds in all categories of global custody. (Chase Manhattan, the Bank of New York and State Street Bank ranked highly in domestic services.) Mutual fund assets, run out of Brown Brothers' large Boston office, represent more than 50 percent of the firm's $500 billion assets under custody. In 1998, the firm and Japanese banking giant Daiwa Bank, made an agreement to manage pension assets and train Daiwa bankers at BBH & Co. Private equity Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. also runs several private equity funds, which invest the firm's and clients' (including the California Public Employees' Retirement System and the pension fund of the World Bank) funds in non-controlling equity investments of private companies. This family of funds is called the 1818 funds.
Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. maintains helpful employment web pages at its web site, located at www.bbh.com. The pages include an opportunity to fill out a resume on-line, to contact the firm's HR department, and to check out info on the firm's training programs and job openings. BBH&Co. recruits MBAs for a variety of positions, including investment management (both as portfolio managers and equity research), and I-banking advisory, including M&A. For the few (usually around three) analysts BBH & Co hires each year, the firm recruits at the "usual Ivy League schools, but also a few schools like Bowdoin and Colgate." The hiring process for analysts usually consists of two rounds. In the first round, one insider tells us, "you'll meet two or three analysts who will spend 30 or so minutes each asking you a range of questions -- no brainteasers but definitely stuff about why you want to work in finance." For the second round, for which the firm foots the bill: "You'll meet just about everyone else in the department on the second trip and they'll take you out to lunch." BBH employees report that the firm's hiring process is relatively casual for the finance industry: "I think [the BBHers] try to really get to know what you're like to work with." BBH & Co. looks for intelligent people who are balanced socially and academically. According to one insider, "The firm prefers students who are not single-minded in their career focus and have a broad perspective on what they might like to do." Applicants should have a true interest in investment banking, as one contact warns, "several current members of the department are very wary of students who choose investment banking without giving it much thought -- you should have a genuine interest."
No bravado Can you say "conservative?" Aiming to maintain the "oldest bank on the Street" atmosphere, partners at BBH & Co. reportedly keep the firm's culture strictly conservative. Until recently, employees wheeled and dealed in formal dress five days a week, year-round. Now the firm allows casual Fridays in non-client areas in the New York office, and in New Jersey, the operations and systems departments can dress down everyday. Says one insider: "Regarding the culture of Brown Brothers, I would categorize it as being quite conservative." Although the firm may be conservative, says one source, it is somewhat more laid-back than other firms, "there is no face time -- if you don't have work, you go home. There is no one to impress by staying late." Says that insider, "There is no "trading floor" bravado at BBH." Cooperative and friendly Though the firm's executives reportedly work shorter hours than the norm for the Street, analysts at BBH&Co. can expect the same 70- to 80-hour workweeks Wall Street is infamous for. Employees describe co-workers as cooperative and friendly, with partners often inviting analysts to important meetings. As for perks -- "You get $25 for dinner if you work late and you get private cars home at night and on the weekends." Other benefits, detailed at the firm's web site, include pre-tax medical spending accounts (up to $500 a month), tuition reimbursement for six classes a year, and two retirement plans - a pension plan that requires no employee contribution, and a 401(k) program with a company match.
Allan B. Wechsler Human Resources (617) 589-3001
International Business;Overseeing the flow of capital;Financial services to private companies, wealthy families, and individuals.
Bear Stearns;Goldman Sachs;J.P. Morgan;Morgan Stanley Dean Witter More Company Profiles For more career information, go to Vault.com ©2000, Vault.com Inc
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