Alex. Brown: A legacy of uncompromising service

Since its founding in 1800, Alex. Brown has embodied a signature approach to wealth management, leveraging our extensive expertise and resources to steadfastly focus on each individual, family and institution we serve. That legacy empowers us to provide quality investment insight and an uncommon level of customized service as we address our clients’ diverse and unique needs. As the nation’s first investment bank, we are proud of our strong heritage, but we prefer to raise the bar higher.

Our powerful partnership with Raymond James allows us to continue to provide the breadth and depth of sophisticated services that our distinguished clients demand and deserve, all with state-of-the-art information technology and multilayered account protection. We dedicate ourselves to a client-first approach, focusing on delivering dedicated and focused service and careful counsel. Consistently striving for perfection, our advisors specialize in traditional and alternative investment planning, asset and risk management, investment banking and wealth management. Espousing the highest standards of service and guidance, we take a consultative, thoughtful approach to creating a client experience far beyond the ordinary.

Investing involves risk and you may incur a profit or loss regardless of strategy selected, including diversification and asset allocation

A heritage of trusted expertise, spanning two centuries

  • 1800 – Irish-born Alexander Brown emigrates to Baltimore and founds the first investment bank in the United States
  • 1808 – Alex. Brown organizes the first initial public offering in the United States, for the Baltimore Water Company 
  • 1824 – The investment bank issues the first letter of credit for an international traveler 
  • 1827 – Brown and his son George lead and sponsor the development of the first major American railroad, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad 
  • 1933 – Alex. Brown purchases membership in the New York Stock Exchange
  • 1983 – The company joins a syndicate group to take Raymond James public 
  • 1986 – Alex. Brown helps launch IPOs for Microsoft, Oracle and Sun Microsystems over a 10-day period 
  • 1990s – Alex. Brown establishes itself as a leading underwriter, known for high profile IPOs including AOL and Starbucks
  • 1997 – At the time of acquisition by Bankers Trust, Alex. Brown is the nation’s oldest investment bank, is the No. 6 stock underwriter1 by total dollar amount of deals and serves 115,000 high-net-worth clients
  • 1999 – Deutsche Bank acquires BT Alex. Brown to form Deutsche Bank Alex. Brown, which becomes Private Client Services 
  • 2015 – Private Client Services comprises 210 client advisors in 16 branches, managing $50 billion in assets 
  • 2016 – Alex. Brown partners with Raymond James, the nation’s seventh largest wealth management firm by assets under management2

To learn more about Alex. Brown, visit AlexBrown.com.

1 Source: Securities Data Corporation
2 Source: On Wall Street ranking

“As proud as we are of our rich heritage, it’s the financial future of our clients that drives us forward.”
Craig Decker