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{{short description|Merchant bank founded in 1873 and sold to Chase Manhattan Bank}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2017}}
{{Infobox company
{{refimprove|date=September 2016}}
| name = Robert Fleming & Co.
⚫
'''Robert Fleming & Co.''' was an [[asset manager]] and [[merchant bank]] founded in [[Dundee]], Scotland, in 1873. In 1909 the firm moved its headquarters to London. It was sold to [[Chase Manhattan Bank]] for over $7 billion in 2000.
| logo = Flemings logo.jpg

| logo_size =
Flemings was a 50% partner in the highly successful Asian investment bank [[Jardine Fleming]]. At its height in 1997, Robert Fleming Holdings reported over 8,000 employees and operations in 44 countries.
| type = [[Private company|Private]]
| caption =
| fate = Acquired
| successor = [[Chase Manhattan Bank]]
| foundation = 1873
| founder = [[Robert Fleming (financier)|Robert Fleming]]
| defunct = 2000
| location = [[London]], England, UK
| industry = [[Banking]]
| key_people =
| products =
| num_employees =
| parent =
| subsid =
}}
⚫
'''Robert Fleming & Co.''' was an [[asset manager]] and [[merchant bank]] founded in [[Dundee]], Scotland, in 1873. In 1909, the firm moved its headquarters to [[London]], England. It was sold to [[Chase Manhattan Bank]] for over $7 billion in 2000. Flemings was a 50% partner in the Asian investment bank [[Jardine Fleming]].


==History==
==History==
The firm of Robert Fleming & Co., known as '''Flemings''', was founded in [[Dundee]], Scotland in 1873 by [[Robert Fleming (financier)|Robert Fleming]], a successful manufacturer of [[jute]] fabrics used for sandbags in the [[American Civil War]]. The firm was originally formed as a series of [[investment trust]]s, pooling money from Scottish investors into overseas ventures, and later moved into merchant banking. In 1909 the firm moved its headquarters to London.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=eZkaMjTzBdcC&pg=PA498&lpg=|title=The History of Foreign Investment in the United States to 1914|first= Mira |last=Wilkins|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=2004|isbn= 978-0674013087|page=498}}</ref>
The firm of Robert Fleming & Co., known as '''Flemings''', was founded in [[Dundee]], Scotland in 1873 by [[Robert Fleming (financier)|Robert Fleming]], a successful manufacturer of [[jute]] fabrics used for sandbags in the [[American Civil War]]. The firm was originally formed as a series of [[investment trust]]s, pooling money from Scottish investors into overseas ventures, and later moved into merchant banking. In 1909 the firm moved its headquarters to London.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eZkaMjTzBdcC&pg=PA498|title=The History of Foreign Investment in the United States to 1914|first= Mira |last=Wilkins|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=2004|isbn= 978-0674013087|page=498}}</ref>


⚫
In 1873, Robert Fleming cofounded the [[Scottish American Investment Company]] for the purpose of investing in high risk, high return American [[railroad bond]]s.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Ian Fleming's Commandos: The Story of 30 Assault Unit in WWII|last = Rankin|first = Nicholas|publisher = Faber & Faber|year = 2011|isbn = 978-0571277803|pages = 43–44}}</ref> Flemings assumed a central role in the 1886 battle with [[Jay Gould]] for control of the [[Texas & Pacific Railway]], in which the Flemings bondholder group ultimately triumphed. Overall, Flemings claimed to have made a 40% return on investments in US railroads.<ref>Quoting Fleming Family Partners partner Mark Graber in [https://archive.today/20060315091954/http://www.gateway2russia.com/st/art_19226.php Gateway to Russia, 18 March 2002]</ref>
===American railroads===
⚫
In 1873, Robert Fleming cofounded the '''[[Scottish American Investment Company]]''' for the purpose of investing in high risk, high return American [[railroad bond]]s.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Ian Fleming's Commandos: The Story of 30 Assault Unit in WWII|last = Rankin|first = Nicholas|publisher = Faber & Faber|year = 2011|isbn = 0571277802|location = |pages = 43–44}}</ref> The [[Scottish Widows]] was a significant early investor.{{cn|date=September 2016}} In 1876, Flemings represented the bondholders' committee of the [[Erie Railway]], then under the control of [[Jay Gould]], and saw its plan for the financial reorganisation of the railroad largely adopted.{{cn|date=September 2016}} Due to the successful Erie experience, and in its role as a significant railroad investor, Flemings was involved in the successful restructuring of numerous other North American railroads in the 1870s, 1880s and 1890s.{{cn|date=September 2016}} Each restructuring produced significant gains for the Fleming investment trusts and drew more investors.{{cn|date=September 2016}} Flemings assumed a central role in the 1886 battle with Jay Gould for control of the [[Texas & Pacific Railway]], in which the Flemings bondholder group ultimately triumphed. Overall, Flemings claimed to have made a 40% return on investments in US railroads.<ref>Quoting Fleming Family Partners partner Mark Graber in [https://archive.is/20060315091954/http://www.gateway2russia.com/st/art_19226.php Gateway to Russia, 18 March 2002] </ref>


In 1970, Flemings entered into an investment banking joint venture with Hong Kong-based [[Jardine Matheson]], forming [[Jardine Fleming]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/how-a-blue-chip-fund-manager-lost-its-way-1312149.html|title=How a blue-chip fund manager lost its way|date=30 August 1996|work=The Independent|access-date=3 June 2020}}</ref>
By 1900, opportunities in railroads had subsided and Flemings largely left North America.{{cn|date=September 2016}} In the 1990s, it entered into a US asset management venture with [[T. Rowe Price]], a large US mutual fund company.{{cn|date=September 2016}}


Despite restructuring, Flemings saw its investment banking and asset management market share decline in the 1990s as global investment banks like [[Morgan Stanley]] and [[Lazard]] moved into their markets.<ref>{{cite news|last=Garfield|first=Andrew|title=Fleming cements ties with Keswicks |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/fleming-cements-ties-with-keswicks-1189112.html|access-date=27 May 2010|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|date=4 Dec 1998}}</ref>
===Expansion in Asia and Africa===
In the twentieth century, Flemings focusing its overseas energies on Asia and Africa.{{cn|date=September 2016}} In 1971, Flemings opened a Tokyo office and in 1988 opened an office in Bangkok.{{cn|date=September 2016}} After 1970, most of its Asian activities were conducted through Jardine Fleming.{{cn|date=September 2016}} In addition, Flemings was a major player in Africa, particularly in the mining industry.{{cn|date=September 2016}} As apartheid drew to a close, Flemings opened offices in southern Africa (Fleming Martin in [[South Africa]], Edwards & Co. in [[Zimbabwe]], and Stockbrokers Botswana in that country).{{cn|date=September 2016}} It advised [[Glencore]] in its move from Johannesburg to London, where it was listed in 1997, as well as a similar move by Billiton (later [[BHP Billiton]]), which became a constituent of the [[FTSE 100]] in 1997.{{cn|date=September 2016}}


The Fleming name was tarnished by a scandal in 1996, when Jardine Fleming was ordered to pay $19 million to fund investors for alleged abusive and unsupervised securities allocation practices by its asset management division.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/30/business/worldbusiness/IHT-jardine-fleming-is-told-to-pay-cheated-clients.html|title=Jardine Fleming Is Told To Pay Cheated Clients|date=30 August 1996|work=New York Times|access-date=3 June 2020}}</ref>
===Relationship with Jardine Matheson===
In 1970, Flemings entered into an investment banking joint venture with Hong Kong-based [[Jardine Matheson]], forming [[Jardine Fleming]]. The tie-up was prompted by the long-standing family links between the Flemings and the [[Keswick family]] of Scotland, who have run Jardine Matheson since its founding.


⚫
In April 2000, Robert Flemings Holdings was sold to [[Chase Manhattan Bank]] for $7.7 billion.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB955444046817267542|title=Chase to Acquire Robert Fleming In $7.73 Billion Stock-Cash Deal|date=12 April 2000|publisher=Wall Street Journal|access-date=3 June 2020}}</ref> Although the sale came about as partially as a result of Flemings’ weakened position, it was part of two larger trends: consolidation in the financial services industry as large US commercial banks acquired investment banks upon the repeal of the [[Glass–Steagall Act]], and the sale of UK merchant banks to foreign banks. Flemings, with almost no US assets, was considered a particularly good fit for increasingly globally minded Chase, whose assets lay largely in the United States. In the sale about 130 Fleming family members pocketed approximately $2.3 billion for their thirty per cent stake. When Chase merged with [[J.P. Morgan & Co.]] in 2001, the Flemings asset management business was rebranded J.P. Morgan Fleming, and Fleming Premier Banking was sold to [[Abbey National]]'s [[Cater Allen]] subsidiary.<ref>{{cite news|last=Griffiths|first=Katherine|title=Abbey buys Fleming Premier for £106m|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/abbey-buys-fleming-premier-for-pound106m-684801.html|access-date=27 May 2010|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|date=15 May 2001}}{{dead link|date=August 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Treanor|first=Jill|title= Abbey National pays £106m for 'premier' bank|url=https://www.theguardian.com/money/2001/may/15/business.personalfinancenews|access-date=27 May 2010|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=15 May 2001}}</ref>
==Flemings at the end of its days==
In 1997, Robert Fleming Holdings had operations in 44 countries in Asia, Eastern Europe, the Americas and Africa. Its net assets as for the 1997 fiscal year were £841 million and its profit before tax for the year was £136.1 million. Its global asset management business managed £63 billion on behalf of institutional and private investors around the world. These results included Jardine Fleming, which in its own right had operations in fifteen countries in the Asia-Pacific region, seats on twenty stock exchanges and some US$19.7 billion in funds under management. Jardine Fleming’s profit before tax for the year was US$41.4 million.<ref>http://www.irasia.com/listco/sg/jm/press/p981203.htm|Fleming Holdings press release, 3 Dec. 1998. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050729091308/http://www.irasia.com/listco/sg/jm/press/p981203.htm |date=29 July 2005 }}</ref> The firm’s significant transactions included the privatization of state-owned Pakistan Telecommunication Co. Ltd. in 1994.


Members of the Fleming family set up an asset management company, [[Fleming Family & Partners]], which in November 2014 merged with Stonehage Group, an international family office with its roots in South Africa, to create [[Stonehage Fleming|Stonehage Fleming Family and Partners]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-11-06/fleming-family-office-to-merge-with-competitor-stonehage|title=Fleming Family Office to Merge With Competitor Stonehage|work=Bloomberg.com|access-date=2017-08-02}}</ref>
Through its history, the firm wore its Scottishness on its sleeve. In addition to being controlled by the Scottish Fleming family, there were other signs of its Scots heritage. A bagpipe player regularly greeted visitors at its London headquarters until 2000. In the 1990s, its main non-Fleming family backers were Scottish institutions such as [[Baillie Gifford]] and Stewart Ivory. The firm also owned the most extensive private collection of Scottish art in existence, removed to an art foundation, [[The Fleming-Wyfold Art Foundation]], created to protect the art works and prevent any buyers of the failing bank from selling off the collection.

===Scandal, crisis and restructuring===
The Fleming name was tarnished by a scandal in 1996, when Jardine Fleming was ordered to pay $19 million to fund investors for alleged abusive and unsupervised securities allocation practices by asset management head Colin Armstrong.{{cn|date=September 2016}} The 1997 Asian crisis severely hit both Robert Fleming and Jardine Fleming.{{cn|date=September 2016}} Robert Fleming was forced to approve massive lay offs in late 1998.{{cn|date=September 2016}} The firm restructured in 1999, buying the remaining fifty percent stake in Jardine Flemings in return for giving Jardine Matheson an eighteen percent stake in Robert Flemings Holdings.{{cn|date=September 2016}} However, despite these efforts, Flemings continued to see its investment banking and asset management market share decline as global investment banks like [[Morgan Stanley]] and [[Lazard]] moved into their markets.<ref>{{cite news|last=Garfield|first=Andrew|title=Fleming cements ties with Keswicks |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/fleming-cements-ties-with-keswicks-1189112.html|accessdate=27 May 2010|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|date=4 Dec 1998}}</ref>

===Sale to Chase===
⚫
In April, 2000, Robert Flemings Holdings was sold to [[Chase Manhattan Bank]] for $7.7 billion. Although the sale came about as partially as a result of Flemings’ weakened position, it was part of two larger trends: consolidation in the financial services industry as large US commercial banks acquired investment banks upon the repeal of the [[Glass–Steagall Act]], and the sale of UK merchant banks to foreign banks. Flemings, with almost no US assets, was considered a particularly good fit for increasingly globally minded Chase, whose assets lay largely in the United States. In the sale about 130 Fleming family members pocketed approximately $2.3 billion for their thirty percent stake. When Chase merged with [[J.P. Morgan & Co.]] in 2001, the Flemings asset management business was rebranded J.P. Morgan Fleming, and Fleming Premier Banking was sold to [[Abbey National]]'s [[Cater Allen]] subsidiary.<ref>{{cite news|last=Griffiths|first=Katherine|title=Abbey buys Fleming Premier for £106m|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/abbey-buys-fleming-premier-for-pound106m-684801.html|accessdate=27 May 2010|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|date=15 May 2001}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Treanor|first=Jill|title= Abbey National pays £106m for 'premier' bank|url=https://www.theguardian.com/money/2001/may/15/business.personalfinancenews|accessdate=27 May 2010|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=15 May 2001}}</ref>

===After 2000===
Members of the Fleming family have since set up an asset management company, [[Fleming Family & Partners]], chaired by former [[Morgan Grenfell]] head [[Sir John Craven|John Craven]].{{cn|date=September 2016}} In 2005, they sold twenty percent of the business to [[Standard Chartered Bank]], a venerable Hong Kong institution like Jardine Matheson, for £45 million.{{cn|date=September 2016}} The bank business of [[Jardine Fleming]] was bought by [[Standard Bank]], a large South African bank, in 2001.{{cn|date=September 2016}}

In November 2014 Fleming Family Partners announced it was merging with Stonehage Group, Jersey. The combined group to be called [[Stonehage Fleming|Stonehage Fleming Family and Partners]].


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}

<references/>


==External links==
==External links==

Latest revision as of 22:25, 27 December 2023

Robert Fleming & Co.
Company typePrivate
IndustryBanking
Founded1873
FounderRobert Fleming
Defunct2000
FateAcquired
SuccessorChase Manhattan Bank
HeadquartersLondon, England, UK

Robert Fleming & Co. was an asset manager and merchant bank founded in Dundee, Scotland, in 1873. In 1909, the firm moved its headquarters to London, England. It was sold to Chase Manhattan Bank for over $7 billion in 2000. Flemings was a 50% partner in the Asian investment bank Jardine Fleming.

History[edit]

The firm of Robert Fleming & Co., known as Flemings, was founded in Dundee, Scotland in 1873 by Robert Fleming, a successful manufacturer of jute fabrics used for sandbags in the American Civil War. The firm was originally formed as a series of investment trusts, pooling money from Scottish investors into overseas ventures, and later moved into merchant banking. In 1909 the firm moved its headquarters to London.[1]

In 1873, Robert Fleming cofounded the Scottish American Investment Company for the purpose of investing in high risk, high return American railroad bonds.[2] Flemings assumed a central role in the 1886 battle with Jay Gould for control of the Texas & Pacific Railway, in which the Flemings bondholder group ultimately triumphed. Overall, Flemings claimed to have made a 40% return on investments in US railroads.[3]

In 1970, Flemings entered into an investment banking joint venture with Hong Kong-based Jardine Matheson, forming Jardine Fleming.[4]

Despite restructuring, Flemings saw its investment banking and asset management market share decline in the 1990s as global investment banks like Morgan Stanley and Lazard moved into their markets.[5]

The Fleming name was tarnished by a scandal in 1996, when Jardine Fleming was ordered to pay $19 million to fund investors for alleged abusive and unsupervised securities allocation practices by its asset management division.[6]

In April 2000, Robert Flemings Holdings was sold to Chase Manhattan Bank for $7.7 billion.[7] Although the sale came about as partially as a result of Flemings’ weakened position, it was part of two larger trends: consolidation in the financial services industry as large US commercial banks acquired investment banks upon the repeal of the Glass–Steagall Act, and the sale of UK merchant banks to foreign banks. Flemings, with almost no US assets, was considered a particularly good fit for increasingly globally minded Chase, whose assets lay largely in the United States. In the sale about 130 Fleming family members pocketed approximately $2.3 billion for their thirty per cent stake. When Chase merged with J.P. Morgan & Co. in 2001, the Flemings asset management business was rebranded J.P. Morgan Fleming, and Fleming Premier Banking was sold to Abbey National's Cater Allen subsidiary.[8][9]

Members of the Fleming family set up an asset management company, Fleming Family & Partners, which in November 2014 merged with Stonehage Group, an international family office with its roots in South Africa, to create Stonehage Fleming Family and Partners.[10]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Wilkins, Mira (2004). The History of Foreign Investment in the United States to 1914. Harvard University Press. p. 498. ISBN 978-0674013087.
  2. ^ Rankin, Nicholas (2011). Ian Fleming's Commandos: The Story of 30 Assault Unit in WWII. Faber & Faber. pp. 43–44. ISBN 978-0571277803.
  3. ^ Quoting Fleming Family Partners partner Mark Graber in Gateway to Russia, 18 March 2002
  4. ^ "How a blue-chip fund manager lost its way". The Independent. 30 August 1996. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  5. ^ Garfield, Andrew (4 December 1998). "Fleming cements ties with Keswicks". The Independent. Retrieved 27 May 2010.
  6. ^ "Jardine Fleming Is Told To Pay Cheated Clients". New York Times. 30 August 1996. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  7. ^ "Chase to Acquire Robert Fleming In $7.73 Billion Stock-Cash Deal". Wall Street Journal. 12 April 2000. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  8. ^ Griffiths, Katherine (15 May 2001). "Abbey buys Fleming Premier for £106m". The Independent. Retrieved 27 May 2010.[dead link]
  9. ^ Treanor, Jill (15 May 2001). "Abbey National pays £106m for 'premier' bank". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 May 2010.
  10. ^ "Fleming Family Office to Merge With Competitor Stonehage". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2 August 2017.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Robert_Fleming_%26_Co.&oldid=1192152859"