NAM takes this fiduciary responsibility very seriously. To achieve the long-term returns that its clients expect, NAM has built a research-intensive investment process. Much like Brown Advisory, the NAM investment team is research-driven, industry sector-focused and practices substantive engagement with the management teams in which they invest.

When the team at NAM were looking for an external manager with whom to partner on a global equity solution, they liked what they found in the Brown Advisory Global Leaders strategy. They were looking for a differentiated investment approach, and Global Leaders’ focus on investing in companies with exceptional customer outcomes stood out to the NAM team. “With our external managers, we need to be able to explain the people, process and philosophy. Global Leaders has a very understandable investment approach that allows it to be represented clearly and thoroughly to our clients,” says Hiroyuki Shoji, General Manager & Head of International Product Management at NAM.

Moreover, Global Leaders’ integrated ESG approach—which evaluates how sustainability drives a company’s revenue growth, cost savings and/or enhanced franchise value—resonated with NAM’s commitment to providing “A Good Investment for the Future.” Both firms believe that investing in companies with sustainable drivers will produce outperformance over the long term.

The Global Leaders portfolio management team, led by Mick Dillon and Bertie Thomson, and their diligent investment process made an impact. “At the end of the day,” says Akira Miyake, Chief Portfolio Advisor, International Product Management Department at NAM, “it is human minds that make investment decisions. Bertie and Mick have a deeply thoughtful mindset; their commitment to examining every portfolio decision and to constantly improving helps us learn and understand how our team can get better.”

Walter Beckett, Head of Asia Pacific, who leads the relationship, arranged for the NAM team to visit Brown Advisory in Baltimore and Boston. They joined the morning meeting, spent time with Karina Funk, Chair of Sustainable Investing, and other investment team members, and assessed the client service team to be sure they would receive the high level of service that they demand from their partners. According to Shoji-san, “We realized that we had found a partner that could generate results for our clients and with which we had an unusual degree of cultural compatibility.”