SEPTEMBER 2021 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 49
BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
1879 ADVISORS RICH IN HISTORY
Matthew Bruderman launched 1879
Advisors to help successful individuals
and families benefit from the
generations of experience embodied
in the firm.
1879 Advisors draws on a long history
of investing and stewardship of
clients’ assets, ensuring that the experience
and investment philosophy of
the firm's forerunners is still applied
throughout the firm today.
While Matthew Bruderman is a
third-generation investment advisor,
the story goes further back than his
father and grandfather. The narrative
begins with Joseph Brunner in 1879,
the year he established one of the most
well-respected investment houses in
Brussels, Belgium. Brunner saw tremendous
opportunity for growth and
innovation in America, where he, and
later his son Robert, traveled regularly
in search of investment prospects.
His perspective was captured in the
July 1909 issue of Rand-McNally Bankers’
Monthly.
"America is as beautiful a country
as it is tremendous in its resources,”
he told the publication. “I had an
opportunity to observe and admire
this during my present visit. In many
respects America is still in its infancy,
and what I have seen of its resources
has impressed me very much.”
Robert took over the firm in 1911 and
continued to spend considerable time
in America. During the occupation
of Belgium in World War II, Robert
Brunner took up full-time residence
in New York, managing his firm's
family and clients assets through
Brown Brothers Harriman, itself a
storied firm, where John M. Bruderman
Sr. — Bruderman’s grandfather
— managed the Brunner accounts,
working alongside Prescott Bush, who
was a partner in the firm, future U.S.
senator, and father and grandfather of
the 41st and 43rd U.S. presidents. John
M. Bruderman Sr. left Brown Brothers
in 1948 to join Robert Brunner, and to
succeed him in managing the client
and Brunner family accounts when
Brunner retired. In 1964 Matthew’s
father joined the firm, then called
John M. Bruderman & Co., and took
the helm himself in 1975, when his
father retired.
“We connect and overlap with the
previous generations in a very meaningful
way,” said Bruderman Brothers
President James Bruderman, whose
brother Matthew is chairman and
CEO of the firm. “Understanding how
the world is changing is essential to
managing wealth, and investing in innovation
has always been a hallmark
of the firm. Matt is very good at that,
and a big part of that is the knowledge
and experience passed down from
our father, our grandfather, and the
Brunners. The firms managed investments
for some of Europe’s wealthiest
families and for religious orders close
to the Vatican, investing in the growth
and prosperity of the United States
along the way.”
A division of Bruderman Asset Management
with offices in Manhattan and
throughout the tristate area, 1879 Advisors
now provides advisory and investment
banking services to a diverse
array of business owners, professional
athletes, celebrities, other wealthy individuals,
and their families. The knowledge
and experiences passed down
from successive leaders grounds and
guides the firm philosophy in today’s
changing world. “We’ve been at this a
long time,” says Matthew Bruderman,
“through the best times, and through
the worst. We’ve seen it all and we have
the experience to guide our clients into
the future.”
One additional part of the founders’
philosophy is paying it forward and
investing in the community. The
Brunners were deeply concerned
with their fellow man and contributed
vast sums of their wealth to help
the sick and infirm. Matthew’s father
and grandfather continued this legacy,
and he and his family support
nonprofits and charities throughout
Long Island. This is a value that has
stood the test of time.
“We’ve been taught that there is an
obligation that comes with success,
and it’s a virtuous cycle,” says Matthew
Bruderman. “I have childhood
memories of my grandfather driving
around and giving blankets and
groceries to homeless people. Today
my own children are honoring that
memory by designing and distributing
winter jackets that convert into
sleeping bags for the homeless.”
John M. Bruderman
Matthew Bruderman
/LONGISLANDPRESS.COM
