Best site for custody
Brown Brothers Harriman
Five years ago, Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH) carried out a survey of its clients to find out how many of them had internet access at work. About 90% didn’t. So the decision to invest heavily in developing web capability for its custody services was not easy.
But it did build an online custody offering, and five years later, now that 90% of its clients do have internet access, that effort is paying off. BBH now has a suite of web products that is so far ahead of the competition that it was a clear winner in this category. Not bad for a niche custodian that competes with some of the world’s biggest banks BBH’s small size may have given it an advantage. Susan Livingston, a partner at BBH, says: “Because we are smaller relative to our competitors, we can focus on bringing internet products to the market. We don’t have so much legacy. Other people in the industry are envious of what we have done – friends tell me they are still in committees discussing how to develop web strategy. They find it difficult to catch up unless they spin off their web initiatives.”
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