About us

We’ve always believed that the first step to building wealth is building relationships.

For over 200 years, we’ve been working with our clients to support their wealth needs. By getting to know you and your family, we’re perfectly placed to adapt as your needs change over time, which is just one of the reasons many of our clients have trusted us for generations.

Our promise

We’re here to meet the needs of people who refuse to settle for old-fashioned trade-offs.

You should never have to choose between pursuing profit and investing responsibly. Between global insight and personalised service. Between technological efficiency and human understanding.

We refuse to be constrained by either/or thinking. We don’t believe in these trade-offs.

Part of the family.

Being part of Quintet expands our scale, security and adds a truly global outlook to our already strong foundations. Together, we form a boutique of private banks and wealth managers operating across 50 European cities, which together manage over €81.5bn of assets (as at 31 December 2020).

Yesterday and today

Brown Shipley, a Quintet Private Bank, was founded in 1810 in Liverpool. Our heritage, which dates back more than 200 years, has its roots in providing financing to shipping merchants. Some of the viewpoints and values of those times are different to those currently held by Brown Shipley and Quintet. Today, Quintet has a diverse and inclusive culture, with employees representing more than 70 nationalities. We are committed to continually improving diversity in all ways across our business and our industry

We are focused on the sustained development of our business as a client-centric organisation where diversity is a source of strength. At the same time, we recognise where we come from; we learn from the past to improve our business for the future.

BROWN SHIPLEY IN NUMBERS.

412

EMPLOYEES

80

CLIENT ADVISORS

8

OFFICES ACROSS THE UK

Quintet in numbers.

2000

EMPLOYEES

400

PROFESSIONAL ADVISERS

200

INVESTMENT SPECIALISTS

50

CITIES ACROSS EUROPE

The Brown Shipley journey.

1800s

1800 - 1825

The Beginning

Irish merchant Alexander Brown sets up an import-export business in Baltimore, and in 1810 his son William Brown establishes William Brown & Co. in Liverpool.

1825 -1836

A familiar name appears

William Brown is joined by a new partner, Joseph Shipley. Together, they finance shipping merchants, pioneering payment via ‘Letters of Credit’. The now familiar reputation for honesty, integrity and reliability grows.

1837- 1863

Big business

The firm, now known as Brown Shipley & Co., reach transactions of £10m a year, while weathering financial instability that causes many other merchants to fail. They expand their shipping interests with their own ships and warehouses.

1860 - 1863

Changing times

The American Civil War forces a shift in business focus towards merchant banking, which rapidly expands. There is also a physical shift, with London becoming the primary base for Brown Shipley & Co., now renowned for acceptance of credits, foreign exchange and deposit banking. To this day, we remain at the same location, at the heart of the financial world, next to the Bank of England.

1863 - 1867

Rise to prominence

Sir William Brown becomes appointed High Sheriff of Liverpool, an MP and a campaigner for free trade, the penny post and even decimal coinage. In 1887, partner Sir Mark Collet is appointed Governor of the Bank of England.

1900s

1900 - 1917

The US & us

A specialist office is opened to cater for American travellers’ increasing use of the firm’s Letters of Credit, handling up to 350,000 a year.

1918 - 1920

Family values

In 1918, the partnership between Brown Shipley & Co. and the American Brown Brothers is officially ended, but they continued to work together for some time. In 1920, Lord Norman (Grandson of Sir Mark Collett) is himself appointed Governor of the Bank of England, after following in his Grandfather’s footsteps by becoming a partner in Brown Shipley & Co. Lord Norman remains the longest serving Governor, retiring in 1944.

1940 - 1949

Big business becomes limited

Despite foreign exchange and commercial credits coming under wartime restriction, Brown Shipley& Co. endures throughout World War II, and in 1946 becomes a Limited Company.

1950 - 1989

New opportunities

By this time, the company has a prominent role in the London money market and develops an Investment Advisory Service, which provides an outlet for the company’s heritage and expertise in evaluating business deals and the people behind them.

1990 - 2001

New acquisitions

In 1992 Brown Shipley & Co. Ltd is acquired by European bank KBL and joins its group of Private Bankers. At the turn of the millennium, Brown Shipley subsequently makes its own acquisitions of stockbroker Cawood Smithie, private-client investment manager Henry Cooke and in 2001, pensions and investment manager Fairmount Group plc.

2000s

2010 - 2014

Celebrating the past, looking to the future

After celebrating our bicentenary in 2010, Brown Shipley expanded to new premises in Manchester, Edinburgh and Birmingham, complementing the newly refurbished London building, giving the company contemporary homes to match our thoroughly modern outlook.

2015 - 2017

Stronger together

Three further acquisitions serve to broaden and strengthen our offering: Hampton Dean, a chartered independent firm of financial planners gives us a Nottingham base in 2015; The Roberts Partnership, a financial planning and wealth management firm based in Manchester joins in 2016; while 2017 sees us acquire the UK branch of Insinger de Beaufort.

2018 - 2019

Continued Growth

As part of Brown Shipley’s continued growth strategy in 2018, Alan Mathewson was appointed as CEO, followed by Rory Tapner being named Chair of the Board in 2019. These key appointments have built upon the strong foundations already in place within Brown Shipley, along with supporting the continued growth of the business. The acquisition of NW Brown, a wealth manager with offices in Cambridge and Norwich, in 2019 gives Brown Shipley a strong base in East Anglia.

2019 - 2020

Integration

The acquisition of NW Brown, was finalised in April 2020, fully integrating in to Brown Shipley becoming the Cambridge and Norwich offices.

2020 - 2020

Rebrand

In January 2020 KBL Group rebranded to Quintet Private Bank. Everywhere Quintet operates, including Brown Shipley in the UK, adopted a shared corporate identity, illustrated by five interlocking rings. Inspired by music’s universal appeal and reflecting the group’s partnership approach, the Quintet name is a symbol of the five senses and five fingers on a hand – combining the female number two with the male number three, representing all human beings.

OUR DEDICATION TO LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIPS EXTENDS TO OUR ASSOCIATION WITH SELECT CORPORATE PARTNERS.

West-Eastern Divian Orchestra

Quintet is a proud partner of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. An exceptional humanitarian and artistic project bringing together young musicians from across the Middle East, fostering dialogue and mutual understanding.

Blue Pole Project

In line with our commitment to sustainability, we are very pleased to inform you that Brown Shipley is sponsoring the Blue Pole Project, a six-week sailing expedition from the UK to the Atlantic Pole of Inaccessibility by professional adventurers Hugo and Ross Turner (widely known as the “Turner Twins”). The Turner Twins and Brown Shipley have a shared ethos of making a real world impact through sustainable change, and we are proud to promote the Quintet Earth investment fund as part of this partnership.

Discover the Blue Pole Project

WealthiHer

Proud partners of the WealthiHer Network which aims to drive the economic advancement and empowerment of women on a global scale, by arming and equipping them with the knowledge, tools and confidence they need to prosper. Bringing together the financial services industry to understand and champion women like never before.

Connect Yorkshire

Official is the Wealth Management Partner of Connect Yorkshire. Connect Yorkshire helps Yorkshire businesses to grow by learning from some of the region’s most successful entrepreneurs.

Cambridge University Ladies Netball Club

We are proud sponsors of Cambridge University Ladies Netball Club which is one of the largest and most successful women’s sports clubs at Cambridge University. CULNC is a highly competitive club, promoting equally enjoyment alongside success.

Our awards

At Brown Shipley we’re committed to becoming one of the UK’s leading private client wealth managers, built on strong, long-term relationships and an unrivalled level of service. It’s an approach that means our people are our most valued asset. So we’re always proud when the industry acknowledges our hard work and expertise.

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