BROWN ADVISORY ANNUAL REPORT
PARTNERSHIP
In almost all pursuits of excellence and achievement, it is the encouragement, connection and support from others that unlocks the highest value. When the stakes are high and the environment around us is rapidly changing, we perform better when we have a partner — we all need help.
Co-CEO Letter
From Logie Fitzwilliams and Mike Hankin
This year, we write as Co-CEOs for the first time. You will read about how partnership shapes the solutions we create for clients, how it supports our private and independent structure, and how it inspires the culture we all work so passionately to nourish and sustain. It is a theme that reflects no only how we are working together today, but how we are positioning the firm for the future.
CONTENTS
The partnership described in this Annual Report is all pointed at the same thing — creating and delivering relevant and compelling results for clients over the long term. Maintaining productive partnerships is hard work and highly dependent on the authenticity and genuineness in the relationship. But when we do find people with a shared sense of vision, purpose and values, complementary skill sets, and similar ambition, the output becomes much more than the sum of the parts.
Partnership — like Thinking — supports three defining pillars of our firm: our commitment to creating relevant and compelling solutions for clients, protecting our private and independent structure, and nurturing a bold and disruptive culture.
Relevant & Compelling Solutions￫
We partner with clients to create thoughtful solutions that are relevant to their objectives and compelling in their outcomes.
Private and Independent Structure￫
We partner with our external shareholders, independent directors, board members and advisors to protect our private and independent structure.
As partners, knowing our colleagues have our backs, we are comfortable challenging each other, asking tough and disruptive questions, and pushing the pace of progress. This environment nurtures and develops a boldness in colleagues. Bold benefits clients.
Across the firm, partnership shows up in how we listen, challenge one another and share accountability – to deliver better results for clients. These stories illustrate how trust, candor and long term thinking translate into more thoughtful decisions and more meaningful relationships – with our clients, among our colleagues and across our community.
As markets evolve and new technologies and investment structures emerge, our role is to help clients navigate complexity with clarity and discipline. In this section, we explore the impact of market concentration, expanding access to private investments and the responsible use of AI through the lens of thoughtful investing and long term client outcomes.
Market Concentration and the Illusion of Neutrality
Passive, market cap-weighted index funds were originally designed to provide low-cost, diversified access to equity markets. That premise still has merit. However, the structure of today’s public markets has pushed these strategies far from their original intent.
The Democratization of Private Markets
As private markets become more widely available through a growing range of structures and partnerships, our role as advisors is to evaluate these developments carefully and ensure that relevant and compelling private market solutions are applied.
More Time to Think: Embracing AI
AI’s transformative potential is widely acknowledged — from boardrooms to living rooms, both excitement and apprehension are growing as people consider how AI will reshape the ways we work, communicate and solve problems.