Community participation
We are proud of our involvement in the community. Bahl & Gaynor supports dozens of non-profit organizations and many of the charities to which our team members devote their time and resources. Find some of them HERE.
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One vision, Since day one
Our history
Bill Bahl and Vere Gaynor saw firsthand, the shortcomings inherent in working at large, structured money management firms. In 1990 they left executive positions to join forces, strong in the belief that by owning stocks of superior companies which grew sales, earnings, and dividends, they would better serve clients. What began as a five-person office managing assets of a handful of individuals quickly expanded, though there were trials along the way...
Bahl & Gaynor milestones
Worldwide milestones
1990-1999 Humble Beginnings
Precisely one month after Bahl & Gaynor began business, Saddam Hussein invaded neighboring Kuwait. The market plunged. In the years that followed, the firm’s income growth investment philosophy faced shrinking bond income and dividends fell out of favor.
Still, within one year, assets under management at B&G more than doubled. A Cincinnati Business Record article (June 30th, 1991) already called Bahl & Gaynor “one of the largest money management firms in Greater Cincinnati.”
The founders credited their growth to attracting back to Cincinnati, local money that had been managed by larger firms outside the area.
Bahl & Gaynor also began handling accounts for endowments and foundations. Vere noted that B&G’s philosophy was especially attractive to organizations needing a growing stream of income.
Yet Bill claimed “Bahl and Gaynor doesn’t aspire to be one of the largest investment firms in the city.” He told reporter Steve Watkins the firm wants to limit its assets under management at some point below $1 billion.
That point was lost, and the billion-dollar limit surpassed in 1996. By the end of the decade, Bill and Vere’s original team of 5 became a staff of 17. Assets under management (AUM1) equaled more than $2.3 billion.
Owners act differently.
I can describe our company culture in one word: integrity.
Bahl & Gaynor milestones
Worldwide milestones
2000-2009 Rollercoaster Ride
The decade long bull market of the 90’s, which saw unusually high stock valuations, took a turn beginning in 2000. By 2001 the 9/11 attacks occurred, the dot-com bubble burst and accounting scandals were revealed, resulting in a two-year market downturn and eviscerating more than $5 trillion in market value by October of 2002.
Bahl & Gaynor was not immune. The firm lost some $600 million in AUM1 during those two years. Still, by 2004, B&G was able to hire three people amid the turmoil and rebuilt the AUM1 to its previous level.
In 2007 Bahl & Gaynor reached a new high of $3.2 billion AUM1, just in time for the housing bubble to burst. Employment, GDP and the stock market plummeted; the Great Recession began.
In 2009, the firm was able to regain most of its losses due to new relationships with brokerage firms. The institutional side of the business, assets under advisement (AUA)1 was born and quickly flourished.
We ended the decade with 31 employees, $521 million short of the high mark reached two years earlier.
Our clients brought us to the dance. We have an obligation to continue to serve them with a fully focused approach.
We sell our intellectual capital, not products. Because we own our fee-based firm, there is absolutely no motivation to put our clients into portfolios based on what we can earn off the sale
Bahl & Gaynor milestones
Worldwide milestones
2010-2020 Now We Soar
From 2010 to 2011, Bahl & Gaynor’s Business grew by 60%. This accomplishment would be eclipsed by even more astounding numbers: at the end of 2013 our combined AUM/AUA1 surpassed $10 billion.
Four short years later, Bahl & Gaynor topped $20 billion in assets under management/assets under advisement (AUM/AUA)1. The growth required more personnel; in 2016 the firm moved to a bigger office on Fifth Street to accommodate everyone.
This decade marked a clear emphasis on team. In 2018, Bahl & Gaynor expanded ownership in the firm to all employees, ensuring the new owners’ vision for the firm’s future takes precedence while the legacy of a stable, client-focused investment philosophy remains.
In 2019, we reached another milestone, an amazing $30 billion in combined AUM/AUA1… then 2020 brought an unpredictable crisis: the global pandemic. Work-from-home policies kept us from meeting directly with clients and each other. IT investments, wisely made before the COVID crisis, proved essential to business as usual. Wide market swings, especially those surrounding non-dividend-paying tech stocks, became an added challenge to the Bahl & Gaynor philosophy.
Still, we ended the year with 53 employees and more than $42B combined AUM/AUA1 (our largest ever).
These accomplishments can only affirm Bahl & Gaynor’s enduring long-term strategies, the strength and character of the team that employs them and, surely, a strong foundation for continued success!
Bahl & Gaynor milestones
Worldwide milestones
2020 and Beyond
Our founders transitioned to Directors Emeriti on our board by 2022; Bob Groenke was named President & CEO. Sadly, not long after, Bill Bahl passed away, but the solid foundation he and Vere Gaynor created with just five people in 1990 was steadfast and continues to support our dramatic growth. Our team is more than 70 people strong and our offices have once again expanded to accommodate the growth.
Our philosophy now encompasses five strategies. We sub-advise one mutual fund and an ETF created in 2021. We are a signatory of PRI, the United Nations’ Principals for Responsible Investment.
It must be said, responsible investment has always been at the core of Bahl & Gaynor’s philosophy… the guiding light first instilled decades ago by Bill Bahl and Vere Gaynor.
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