Baltimore-based investment firm Brown Advisory has announced it is moving to a new leadership and management structure, with the creation of co-chief executive officer roles to be shared by current CEO and president Mike Hankin, and Logie Fitzwilliams, who has been with the investment firm since 2003.Hankin has served as sole CEO and president of the independent investment management and strategic advisory firm since its inception in 1998. Fitzwilliams has most recently served as Head of International Business and Global Head of Sales. The two have worked closely for the last 15 years, and the firm’s independent board of directors and Hankin decided the new co-CEO structure would best serve their clients, colleagues, and shareholders. Both Hankin and Fitzwilliams will serve on, and report to, the board of directors.Hankin and the board have been focused on a succession plan for several years. He considers the move a natural step forward in Brown Advisory’s evolution. “In the building of a global investment team and business to complement what we have been cultivating in the U.S., Logie has led with the qualities that we think make him the ideal person to share responsibility for leadership of the entire firm,” Hankin said in a statement. He also emphasized that Brown Advisory will remain a private and independent firm, and that the ownership structure will remain the same.“Importantly, Logie and I share the existential commitment to Brown Advisory remaining a private and independent firm. Our ownership structure – where every single colleague owns equity in the firm alongside an important set of outside shareholders who provide critical advice and support – will remain the same; it is the structural backbone to being the client-first firm we aspire to be over generations.”Fitzwilliams first joined Brown Advisory in 2003, after graduating from Johns Hopkins University. He began work in the Baltimore office as a research analyst covering the consumer sector. In 2008 he made the leap of agreeing to move to London to open the firm’s first office outside the U.S.From London, the firm launched its UCITS funds based in Dublin, and expanded to Frankfurt, Singapore, and Tokyo. While Fitzwilliams and his family are based in the United Kingdom, he spends a great deal of time in the United States. They plan to relocate to Baltimore, though no specific date has been set.“It is a tremendous honor to join Mike in the leadership of Brown Advisory,” Fitzwilliams said in a statement. “Throughout my 22 years at the firm, I have been privileged to work with him closely and we have built a deep relationship that will serve as the foundation for our partnership as co-CEOs. Most importantly, from the outset, we have had a shared focus on investing for, advising, and serving our clients at the highest possible level, and a common commitment to the future of Brown Advisory as a private, independent, entrepreneurial and nimble business.”Since Hankin has been CEO, the firm has grown from overseeing client assets of $2 billion in 1998 to almost $170 billion now — an annual growth rate of 17 percent. Brown Advisory has clients in 51 countries and all 50 states in the U.S. They are served by nearly 1,000 colleagues in 14 offices across the U.S., and offices in London, Frankfurt, Singapore, and Tokyo. Clients run the spectrum to include individuals, families, nonprofits, charities, institutions, and financial intermediaries.Bob Flanagan, lead director of the Brown Advisory board, expressed confidence and optimism about the new leadership structure.“The process and thinking behind this decision was extensive, productive and always forward looking,” Flanagan said in a statement. “We considered many options and scenarios to ensure that Brown Advisory had the best leadership in place for the present and future. Each of us believe that the firm, its clients and its colleagues will be best served with Mike and Logie acting as CEOs, together.”Bea Holland, who is based in the U.K. and is the firm’s director and chair of the International Advisory Board, agreed.“Being based in the U.K., I have had the direct opportunity to work with and advise Logie on the firm’s international business strategy,” Holland said in a statement. “I have seen first-hand the incredible impact he has made for Brown Advisory and its clients. I know the Directors all share my excitement in welcoming Logie to the Board, and to seeing Mike and Logie work together as a team.”