BROWN ADVISORY ANNUAL REPORT
PARTNERSHIP
Private & Independent Structure
Our commitment to remaining private and independent is central to our business strategy. It enables us to make every decision with a client-first mindset. By continually and meaningfully reinvesting in our business — developing innovative strategies, advancing technology and refining processes — we strive to build a firm fit for the future.
"Being private and independent — operating like a true partnership — is at the core of our DNA. It allows us to make decisions and investments based on what we believe is the right thing to do for the long-term success of our clients and our colleagues."
Private and Independent Structure
Our ownership structure — rooted in being private and independent — has been something we have discussed in every one of our Annual Reports.
It was even the main theme of the 2023 publication — titled Independence — which commemorated our 25th anniversary as a private and independent firm. Its importance and connection to our focus on Partnership this year cannot be overstated. For any of the partnerships we have discussed, and the many others we haven’t, to be successful, they have to be built on a solid and lasting foundation. Our structure is that foundation. Partnerships cannot be fleeting. They are most impactful when they are given the time to compound — just like an investment. The consistency of our ownership structure has provided the platform for meaningful partnerships to stand the test of time.
This quote from our retired CFO, now director, Dave Churchill, is pulled from the first Annual Report we published in 2011. The numbers have changed since then, but the sentiment has not.
Today, our structure still gives us the freedom to think long term and act decisively in the best interests of our clients. It still helps us attract and retain a world-class team — enabling us to deliver thoughtful solutions and build lasting partnerships, all shaped by each client’s unique goals and aspirations. Every full-time colleague is still an equity owner. Together, our current and former colleagues collectively own 67% of the outstanding equity. And we still have a small, but very important, group of clients, directors and private investors as shareholders, each of whom is committed to building a multigenerational, client-first firm. We believe this approach ensures that we have a balanced ownership structure — and that our colleagues’ interests are aligned with those of our clients.
We continue to try to press the advantage that our structure provides as “organizational alpha.” It allows our investment teams to dedicate their focus to long-term research and performance — as we do not have to report quarterly financial results. We will continue to meaningfully re-invest in our business to start and develop new strategies, technologies and processes to create relevant and compelling investment solutions, rigorous thinking and a client experience fit for the future. We believe our structure enhances our ability to deliver differentiated outcomes for clients and provides the long-term stability that they look for in a partner.
"The diversity of our businesses provides stability, resilience and the benefit of multiple perspectives, strengthening both our decision-making and our outcomes. The commonalities — our long-term focus, disciplined approach and shared ownership — create a cohesive, client-first culture. Together, these attributes underpin a partnership that consistently raises the bar for every one of our clients and colleagues."
The Partnership of Our Business Model
Beyond our ownership, we believe there is critical partnership reflected in our business model — the complementary nature of our Institutional and Private Client, Endowments and Foundations businesses.
Signal & Access
Our institutional clients are themselves investors, most of whom serve clients that look like the clients we serve in our Private Client, Endowments and Foundations business. These institutions appreciate that the Brown Advisory team knows what it is like to be in their shoes, often carrying the fiduciary duty for managing a client’s total financial affairs. It’s a powerful signal
Similarly, our private clients appreciate that our in-house investment strategies are owned and held by some of the most sophisticated investment organizations in the world. It is a qualification and validation that our investment engine is of “institutional grade” and that our teams have direct access to the thinking and research that powers it.
Balance & Diversification
The businesses react in different ways over a market cycle — which is a key feature providing business diversification and resilience. This balance allows our teams to stay patient in times of external stress and to keep focus on the long-term opportunities at hand.
“ Clients tell me, over and over, how comfortable they feel with our ownership structure — that it gives them peace of mind.”
Brown Advisory Incorporated Board of Directors
When we established our firm more than 25 years ago, we made a commitment to an outside, predominantly independent board of directors, even though there was no regulation or even convention for a private firm to do so. Today, we are even more passionate about the accountability and benefits that our board provides. Our directors share perspectives on strategic issues, question our assumptions and challenge us to be the best — partnership of the highest order.
In addition to the directors of Brown Advisory Incorporated, who are listed here and govern our entire business, we have boards that oversee specific areas, including boards of directors for Brown Advisory Limited (our international business), Brown Advisory Funds (our U.S. mutual fund business), Brown Advisory Funds plc (our UCITS business), Brown Advisory Trust Company of Delaware, Brown Investment Advisory & Trust Company, Brown Advisory (Bermuda) Limited, Brown Advisory (Ireland) Limited, and advisory boards for our sustainable investing and international businesses. While only some of these boards are regulatory in nature, they all share our firm’s commitment to maximizing accountability and transparency for the benefit of our clients. Visit our Board of Directors webpage to learn more.
“That Humble Candor Sends Such a Strong Signal.”
Our team leans on our directors for their perspectives on strategic issues and guidance on complex challenges; their presence, counsel and direction are crucial. Our ownership structure enables the focus of the board’s attention to be on the long-term stability and safety of the firm, rather than on the short-term noise that can be a drag on the governance of public companies. As lead director, Bob Flanagan partners closely with leaders across the firm, including Shannon Pierce, Chief Financial Officer, and Brett Rogers, General Counsel.
We receive invaluable questioning, guidance and feedback from our board members. For example, Brown Advisory Incorporated Director Christine Fox shares perspectives from her leadership experience at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab, Center for Naval Analyses (CNA) and Department of Defense.
Partnership has played a pivotal role throughout Christine’s career — demonstrated particularly acutely immediately after 9/11. At the time, Christine was vice president of CNA (where she would be named president several years later), tasked with providing civilian operational support to the U.S. military. When the U.S. Navy deployed to Afghanistan to eradicate al-Qaeda training camps and terrorist cells, Christine’s close partnership with admirals in the Pentagon enabled her to send civilians to forward operating positions in defense of the United States based simply on a phone call.
The Honorable Christine Fox discussed technology innovation and its role in national security at our NOW conference in Austin, Texas.
“ Partnership derives from shared vision, values, appreciation of challenges and understanding that we can do better together than apart. It requires deep trust — which makes all the difference.”
Planning with a Focus on Vision, Strategy and Execution
We are always seeking to refine and elevate our business planning process to ensure plans are both thoughtful and actionable. With thanks to our Director, Christine Fox, beginning with our 2026 planning cycle, we moved to a Vision, Strategy and Execution (VSE) framework to guide our business planning process.
Everything now starts with defining a clear, relevant and compelling vision. From there, we can ensure that our strategy — in every area of the firm — is aligned to support decisions and investments that will help us achieve our vision. This process has encouraged our teams to think creatively, act boldly and maintain a forward-looking perspective as they help shape the future of the firm.
We believe that with thoughtful planning and disciplined execution, we can more effectively navigate a rapidly changing business and market environment, innovate the way we do things, and create compelling and relevant solutions for our clients.
“ As a tech team, we partner with colleagues across the firm to deliver innovative solutions and a robust tech platform that supports our clients’ needs — today and tomorrow. ”
Long-Term Thinking and New Investments
Our private and independent structure keeps us focused on what matters most: our clients. Our team is always focused on how we can partner — across the firm, and with external partners — to introduce new, compelling and relevant solutions that reflect our commitment to innovation and leadership.
BDT & MSD Partnership
We partnered with BDT & MSD to create a new evergreen investment vehicle focused on senior secured private credit. The partnership capitalizes on the growth and attractiveness of the private credit asset class and, importantly, tailors a solution specifically to the needs of our clients. BDT & MSD was formed in 2023 through the merger of BDT & Company, a premier merchant bank founded by Byron Trott to serve founderand family-led businesses, and MSD Partners, an investment firm formed to manage investment strategies for Michael Dell’s family office and other like-minded investors. The combination brings together a firm with deep experience across private markets and a shared philosophy centered on long-term investing. The private credit team is highly experienced, and the new private credit fund focuses on senior secured loans, using the team’s time-tested strategy that focuses on robust sourcing to generate high-quality deal flow, a conservative approach to underwriting and a relentless focus on capital preservation. For our clients, the strategy seeks attractive risk-adjusted returns through a carefully designed evergreen structure with compelling fees and economics to further enhance return potential.
Global and International Value Strategies
Nick Kirrage joined the firm to lead two new equity strategies launching in 2026: Global Value Select and International Value Select. With more than 20 years of experience and a strong track record in disciplined, fundamental value investing, Nick is building a dedicated investment team in London to support these strategies and expand our global equities platform. The launch of these strategies is well aligned with the evolving portfolio needs of many clients, particularly as they look to broaden diversification through global equity exposure.
Energy Innovation Partners
In response to growing client demand, we launched Energy Innovation Partners I, a multi-asset class, multi-manager vehicle that invests in innovative technologies in both energy supply — clean, reliable generation and distribution — and demand, including efficiency, electrification and decarbonization. The strategy brings together Brown Advisory’s energy sector expertise from across the firm, integrating insights from both public and private investment research teams to deliver a relevant and differentiated solution aligned with client needs.
ETF Launches
In 2025, we launched our first actively managed ETFs, in partnership with SEI, marking an important expansion in how clients can access our investment strategies. The ETFs in these strategies deliver differentiated, timetested approaches through a structure that offers tax efficiency, transparency and intraday liquidity. For many clients, particularly taxable investors, the ETF vehicle can enhance after-tax outcomes while offering flexibility in portfolio allocation and rebalancing. By combining active management with the operational and tax efficiency of the ETF structure, these strategies support more efficient portfolio construction and long-term asset allocation for our clients.
Abu Dhabi Global Market Office
We opened a new office in Abu Dhabi Global Market to meet growing client demand in the region for our U.S. and global equity and fixed income strategies. Jack Weatherby relocated to Abu Dhabi to serve as Head of Middle East, leading efforts to strengthen existing relationships and grow our regional presence. Brown Advisory has served clients and built a strong network across the Middle East for many years, and establishing an on-the-ground presence allows us to deepen those partnerships. We believe closer proximity will enhance our understanding of regional markets and client needs, supporting more thoughtful engagement and the development of innovative solutions tailored to the region, such as the recently launched U.S. Large-Cap Shariah strategy, developed in partnership with one of our clients.
“ Our U.K. clients sought a commingled solution that would streamline operations, enhance tax efficiency and simplify portfolio management. In partnership with many colleagues and teams across the firm, we launched the Global Multi-Asset Growth strategy to fill a gap in our platform and address the objectives of our clients.”
Marylebone Partners
We were pleased to welcome the team from Marylebone Partners, who joined our London office in 2025. Led by Dan Higgins, the Marylebone team brings decades of experience investing in differentiated fundamental and alternative strategies, supported by a global ideas network developed over nearly three decades. Their expertise expands our investment platform for endowment, family and trust clients globally, including access to hard-to-reach opportunities, such as independently managed funds, coinvestments and direct investments.
Our combination with Marylebone strengthens our endowment-style offering outside the U.S. and enhances our ability to deliver tailored, research-driven solutions — while enabling Marylebone Partners’ pre-existing clients to benefit from Brown Advisory’s global resources and in-house investment capabilities.
“Less Friction, More Time”
AI is helping us innovate more efficiently, develop solutions more quickly and free up time — so that colleagues can invest for, support and serve clients more effectively. We are not replacing people; we are empowering them with more time to think. Martin Ouimet, Director of Business Data and Analytics, and TJ Trusty, Analytics Engineer, are one of many partnerships delivering AI solutions for colleagues.
AI in Practice
As we think about the power of AI and its role in helping us make better decisions and do a better job for clients, we often turn to our younger colleagues, many of whom are at the forefront of identifying how AI can enhance how we research investment opportunities, manage risk and onboard new clients. They are demonstrating curiosity, initiative and creativity — and sharing their insights and solutions to help colleagues across the firm gain deeper insights and advance business processes.
Archie Comyns worked with Martin Ouimet, TJ Trusty and the Minerva team to develop a number of applications that enable research team members to manage regulatory and compliance activities significantly more efficiently — so they can focus their time and energy on investing for our clients.
In his “day” job, Leo Bruch supports the Institutional business development team in London. In his spare time, exemplary of the entrepreneurial spirit that is ingrained in our DNA, Leo developed an AI solution that provides the firm’s leadership team with tailored, decision-oriented information.
Reilly Maxwell is part of the team that leads Minerva, our proprietary AI platform. In her role as an Institutional Business Strategist, she focuses on partnering with leaders to develop AI solutions that meaningfully enhance investment research, client service and business operations.
As a portfolio analyst supporting a Baltimore-based team that works with large, complex clients, Quinn McLaughlin has built AI applications to interpret large data sets, analyze portfolio characteristics and tax ramifications, create customized reports, and streamline the team’s workflow.
As a summer analyst, Luke Johnson helped build Minerva, our proprietary AI platform. He was then a part of the team that presented it to our board of directors — all while he was still in college. Now, Luke covers technology companies as an analyst on our equity research team, contributing his direct knowledge of AI coding and development.
“It’s a Small Thing, But It Reinforces Our Commitment to Each Other.”
Leading any business takes keen expertise in setting a vision, following a strategy and driving execution. We have learned that it is certainly possible for one person to have the capacity to excel in all of these areas, but it is rare. Chris Bartlett, Global Head of the Institutional Business, and Carey Buxton, Global COO of the Institutional Business, both report directly — as peers — to Logie Fitzwilliams, Co-CEO of the firm. While Chris and Carey have different backgrounds, and their leadership structure is perhaps slightly unorthodox, it works for us, and for Chris and Carey, as they rely on their partnership to navigate a dynamic asset management environment.