The origins of the private equity industry date to the mid-1900s when wealthy families with names like Rockefeller, Vanderbilt and Whitney began investing in companies with promise. By the mid-1980s, a relatively small number of investment firms had come into existence around pools of capital funded primarily by wealthy families and endowments.

American Securities was at the forefront of this activity. We were founded as a family office in 1947 by William Rosenwald, an heir to the Sears Roebuck & Company fortune. In addition to standard investments in fixed income and equities at the time, the William Rosenwald family office also engaged in what were then referred to as "bootstraps," which later became leveraged buyouts, and are now known as private equity investments. Our roots of investing on behalf of one family keep our values grounded and our investment philosophy timeless.

In the late 1980s, we transitioned from an office that invested almost exclusively for the Rosenwald family into a third-party money management firm. At this time, our growth capitalized on the relationships developed over the previous 40 years, which included other wealthy families as well as select institutions that shared our investment principles. These relationships provided investment capital, intellectual capital and privileged access to family-owned businesses.

In 1994, American Securities formalized our private equity investment activity to include non-Rosenwald family investors. Since this time, American Securities has generated one of the private equity industry’s most consistent investment records – delivering superior, risk-adjusted returns to our investors and management partners. Our investment professionals have earned an enviable reputation for diligence, integrity, and stability across multiple business cycles. No individual investment has ever failed to generate a positive return for investors or management partners. Today, American Securities proudly continues to invest on behalf of the Rosenwald family, as well as other wealthy families and entrepreneurs, numerous endowments and select institutional investors.