Wealth & Investment

Enduring values

Throughout our history, our guiding lights have been professional independence and outstanding client service. Tradition and technology are both important to us. Tradition – because we aspire to the enduring values of service and courtesy. Technology – because, together with a disciplined investment process, it enables us to give you an even better service.

We have eleven offices in the UK, seven in South Africa, two in Switzerland and one in Guernsey – with a total of over 900 employees. That’s the macro view. At the micro level, we group our investment managers in small teams who know their clients personally and offer individual service. We believe that our global resources and individual approach give you the best of both worlds.

Personal service

These days more choice seems to be the order of the day. Choice is good, but it can be overwhelming, especially when it comes to investments. The eye of the storm in the midst of all this choice is you. So that’s where we start – with a personal relationship. It’s also where we continue. Allocating you an investment manager, getting to know you, designing an appropriate strategy for you, answering questions, meeting regularly – these are the hallmarks of a truly outstanding personal service.

Our history

Our history goes way back to 1827. It combines the names and traditions of long established businesses in London, Leeds and Liverpool.

Sheppards was formed in the early 1800s and, through a series of acquisitions and mergers, became Carr Sheppards Crosthwaite in 1998. Henry Rensburg started his stockbroking firm in Liverpool in 1873. At about the same time, Battye, Wimpenny and Dawson founded their own firms in Yorkshire. These three firms merged in the 1970s, floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1988 and subsequently merged with Rensburg.

In 2005 Carr Sheppards Crosthwaite, by now a wholly owned subsidiary of Investec UK, merged with Rensburg. This combined four of the oldest names in the UK stockbroking fraternity in a new entity called Rensburg Sheppards. Investec held 47% of the merged company and in 2010 it made an agreed offer to acquire the remaining shares.

Investec Securities was born in the mid 1990s in South Africa, when for the first time the Johannesburg Stock Exchange allowed banks and corporate entities to own stockbroking firms. Investec purchased two firms, J Solms and Co and Fergusson Bros, to provide a full range of services, including institutional broking, corporate broking, private clients dealing and corporate finance.

Further acquisitions have included the Johannesburg HSBC Simpson McKie private clients business in 1999, Quyn Martin Asset Management in 2000 and Merrill Lynch SA’s private client business in Cape Town in 2002.

This growth culminated in the merger in 2010 of Rensburg Sheppards with Investec Private Bank’s wealth management business, giving rise to Investec Wealth & Investment.