Endowments & Foundations

As a thriving private partnership for almost 200 years, Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH) appreciates the value of longevity and creating a legacy for the future. Our long-term view gives us unique insight into the needs of endowments & foundations, which strive to provide support to worthy causes over an infinite time horizon. BBH has over 60 years of experience helping non-profits and charitable organizations protect and grow their assets over time to enable them to execute their stated missions.

As a leader in managing assets for endowments and foundations, BBH has expertise in helping clients navigate the challenges associated with uncertain inflows and investment performance used to fund significant annual spending commitments. To help overcome these challenges, BBH serves both endowment & foundation clients who seek to leverage our full suite of investment advisory, asset allocation and risk management services, and those with in-house asset allocation professionals seeking single mandate investment strategies.

Endowment & Foundation Clients Seeking Investment Advisory Services

We help endowments and foundations to reach their financial goals by building an investment and asset allocation plan designed to achieve returns in excess of annual spending plus inflation, while mitigating risk of permanent capital impairment. We strive to do this by employing investment strategies, both proprietary and third-party, that aim to both preserve principal and maximize the total return of portfolios over long periods of time.

BBH’s proprietary investment teams manage leading equity, fixed income, and alternative investment strategies and also select best-in-class third party investment partners to create diversified portfolios for our clients. Our pursuit of investment excellence is complemented by a suite of services tailored to endowment and foundation clients including record keeping, tax and accounting through Client Tax Services, fiduciary services through the BBH Trust Company, custody and lending services through our Banking business.

Many BBH Partners are personally involved with non-profits and charitable organizations. Insights garnered from board service, coupled with their experience transitioning BBH management from one generation to the next, provide our clients with a valuable perspective on organizational issues, governance and board composition, and spending rate management.

Endowment & Foundation Clients Seeking Single Mandate Investment Strategies

Endowments and foundations who have created in-house asset allocation programs and who employ an open architecture approach to their portfolio construction can select BBH to manage a sleeve of their overall financial picture. Brown Brothers Harriman offers leading investment strategies in public equity, fixed income, and private equity, all anchored on the same principles of capital preservation and prudent risk management that come from requiring a margin of safety in every investment we make. We invite you to learn more about our proprietary investment strategies by clicking here.