Rothschild Investment LLC, originally known as Rothschild & Company, was founded in 1908 by Monroe Rothschild and his brother-in-law Samuel Karger and has long been a leading financial institution in Chicago, Illinois.
When the stock market crashed in 1929, sparking the Great Depression, it was Samuel Karger’s firm belief in personal client service, financial conservatism, and business acumen that allowed Rothschild to survive the crash. To this day, these tenets remain etched into Rothschild’s foundation and serve as the pillars of our business.
In 1933, Samuel brought his son Robert into the business. From the 1940s to the 1960s, first Samuel then Robert continually improved the company to create a truly client-focused investment firm. Investment products and services that represented conflicts of interest, however popular, were spun-off, disbanded, or never approved. Robert vetoed the lucrative practice of purchasing new public offerings for the firm’s own account, and the investment banking operation was terminated in the late 1960s.
Over the years, as many competing firms went out of business, the Kargers made many decisions with an eye towards improving client service and firm stability. These included utilizing specialized clearing firms for improved account service and safety, closing the futures brokerage division, and spinning off the trading operation.
Today, Richard Karger, Robert’s son, is the third generation of the founding family to run the company. Joining the firm in 1975 from Brown Brothers Harriman, Dick further aligned the interests of the firm with those of its clients, introducing the fee-based Investment Management Department, which he still runs today. Under his leadership, the firm is known for its conservative, disciplined portfolio management.