And while it’s de rigueur for ambitious wealth management firms to try and grab headlines with chest-beating national expansion and hiring plans, the 192-year old firm is happy to stick with its knitting in its New York-area backyard.

“We want to grow smartly and in a controlled way, and have clients who have an investment philosophy that resonates with ours,” Scott Clemons, managing director and co-head of wealth management at the firm, told Family Wealth Report. “We haven’t concluded that broader advertising is the best way to accomplish that, although it is something we wrestle with.”

Nor does Clemons, who shares leadership duties with John Lee, foresee any new offices outside of the six BBH  wealth management has in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Charlotte and Wilmington.

“We have a national practice and visit our clients all over the country, but we see most of our growth geographically coming from the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut tri-state area,” he said. “There’s a lot of wealth here and we see a lot of liquidity events taking place. There’s a concentration of wealth advisors such as lawyers and accountants that make for a cluster effect that makes the market very attractive and very competitive.”

Asked if he thought the New York-area wealth management market was over-saturated, Clemons said no.

“It’s a really big market and there are a lot of different models,” he said. “It would take a lot to over saturate it.”

What’s the difference?

So what differentiates Brown Bothers Harriman?

Clemons believes the firm’s history as the oldest and largest privately-owned bank in the country is a major asset.

“We’re the last general unlimited liability partnership left on Wall Street,” he said. “Many of our clients are owners of private businesses and the fact that we are also owners of the business resonates with them.”

The firm’s investment emphasis on preservation of wealth has also worked in its favor, Clemons said. “The vast majority of our clients have already earned their wealth,” he said. “They don’t want to earn it again,” he said.

“We’re proud of the fact that you’ll never meet someone from Brown Brothers Harriman whose primary job responsibility is sales and marketing,” Scott Clemons, managing director and co-head of wealth management at the firm, told Family Wealth Report.

“We have no sales people.”

Nor will BBH, which has $45 billion in assets under management, compete on price in an industry notorious for price-cutting, Clemons said.

The firm charges clients 100 basis points for the first $5 million of assets under management and break points after that, he said.

“We tell potential clients that if they’re making a decision about a manager based on 30 or 40 basis points, then they’re missing the forest for the trees,” Clemons said. “If you’re looking for a low cost provider then you will get what you pay for.”

According to Clemons, BBH’s competitive edge stems from its investment and customer service performance in the framework of a private partnership.

The firm’s investment philosophy, he said, is centered on preservation of wealth, which has led it to emphasize guarding against inflation.

“The single biggest threat to an investment is inflation, and our goal is to find the best inflation protection for equity in a portfolio,” he said. “We’re doing it now, even though there’s no inflation at present. This is not a reaction to markets; it’s the way we invest.”

Clients also appreciate the fact that the firm’s partners invest alongside clients, Clemons said. Its extensive planning services are costly and may even be considered a “loss leader” in retail terms, he said.

But being able to provide a smorgasbord  of planning services covering estates and trusts, budgeting, taxes, philanthropy business succession and risk management is essential to maintaining a “longer and stickier” relationship with clients, Clemons said.

“If you have investment and customer service excellence,” he said, “the business growth will follow. We see referrals coming from three areas: deeply satisfied clients; lawyers, accountants and other centers of influence, and internally from acquaintances, family and friends of the firm’s principals.”

Clients must have a minimum of $5 million in investable assets, although an average client’s assets are closer to $20 million, according to Clemons.

And while the firm eschews traditional sales and marketing, it does try to raise its profile by sending bankers to speak at public events such as estate planning councils and industry conferences.

“It’s a way we can build the brand by delivering content that’s not just advertising,” Clemons said. “We want to add to the intellectual conversation.”