Schroders plc is a British multinational asset management company, founded in 1804. The company employs over 5,000 people worldwide in 32 locations around Europe, America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Headquartered in the City of London, it is traded on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. Schroders bears the name of the Schröder family, a prominent Hanseatic family of Hamburg with branches in other countries. The Schroder family, through trustee companies, individual ownership and charities, control 47.93 per cent of the company's ordinary shares. History Schroders' history began in 1804 when Johann Heinrich Schröder (John Henry) became a partner in J.F. Schröder & Co, the London-based firm of his brother, Johann Friedrich (John Frederick), founded in 1800. In 1818 J. Henry Schröder & Co. was established in London. During the American Civil War, Schroders "issued £3m bonds in 1863 for the Confederacy." Key events in the development of the business include the establishment of J. Henry Schroder Banking Corporation ('Schrobanco') as a commercial bank in New York in 1923. The J. Henry Schroder Banking Corporation provided significant funding to Adolf Hitler during the 1920's. A subsidiary of J. Henry Schroder Banking Company, J. M. Stein Bankhaus, was responsible for managing the personal bank accounts of Hitler, as well as those of other SS members. Johann Heinrich Kurt Frhr. von Schröder, great grandson of Johann Heinrich Schröder, working in a subsidiary bank to the J. Henry Schröder Banking Corporation, had, F.C. Tiarks, a partner of J. Henry Schröder & Co. and managing director of the Schroder Bank, was a member of the Nazi-friendly Anglo-German Fellowship. According to author John Hargrave in his biography of Montagu Norman, F.C. Tiarks attented a meeting organized by Montagu Norman in 1934, where they agreed to include Hitler in their plans to finance Europe. However, it is important to note that John Hargrave is not an historian. Further key events included the public offering of the shares in J. Henry Schroder & Co. Ltd on the London Stock Exchange in 1959 and the acquisition of Helbert, Wagg & Co, a leading issuing house, in 1962. In 1986 the company disposed of Schrobanco, its commercial banking arm in New York and acquired 50% of Wertheim & Co., a mid-tier New York based investment bank, whose activities more closely mirrored those of the London business. Schroders played a leading role