
	Barings traces its origins to 1762 when it was established in London as a firm of merchants and merchant bankers. In the years following, the firm dominated the London capital market to the extent that first minister of France, the Duc de Richelieu, famously called it one of the &#39;six great powers in Europe&#39;, along with Britain, France, Russia, Prussia, and Austria.
	
	In 1803, Barings undertook a transaction of &#39;the utmost magnitude and importance&#39; in financing the Louisiana Purchase by which the United States doubled its size, purchasing over one million square miles of territory from France.
	
	In the 1950s, asset management developed as an integral part of investment banking in the UK and Barings was among the first to realize the potential, setting up an Investment Department in 1955. Early clients were drawn from its corporate and sovereign connections but pension funds and charitable institutions were soon added. In the 1970s the international dimension was extended with the establishment of offices in the Far East, North America, and Europe.
	
	In 1989, all of Barings&#39; asset management activities were consolidated within Baring Asset Management based in London, England.
