#2540, Philip CAZENOVE

Cazenove was a British stockbroker and investment bank founded in 1823 by Philip Cazenove. It was one of the UK's last independent investment banks and one of the last to remain in private partnership. The main parts of the business were acquired by JP Morgan Chase in 2009. The partnership was well known for its 'blue-blooded' reputation and its complete aversion to publicity.

It was one of the most successful brokers and corporate advisers in London, being described by the Financial Times as 'dominant' and having an 'aura'.

The company has its roots in the early Huguenot financiers who left France for Geneva in 1685 after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, which established Catholicism as the state religion of France. Among those were members of the Cazenove family, who later left Geneva for the UK seeking wealth and freedom in the City of London.

In 1819 Philip Cazenove first joined the business of his brother-in-law John Francis Menet (John Menet had married Philip Cazenove's sister Louisa in 1805). Cazenove and Menet became partners, and in 1823 the firm of Cazenove started. After Menet died, Cazenove entered into a partnership with Joseph Laurence and Charles Pearce. In 1854 Cazenove branched out on his own, and later formed a new partnership with his son and nephew. The stockbroker firm continued to develop and by the 1930s had become one of the leading stockbroking partnerships in London.