Very few firms launched within the last decade can lay claim to a banking dynasty. But J. Stern & Co, a boutique investment firm that launched in 2012, can not only make that claim, it is also part of one of the most influential and under-the-radar banking legacies, the Stern family. The Sterns trace their roots back to the 17th century, as merchants in the Free City of Frankfurt alongside the Rothschilds and Goldschmidts. In the 1800s, Jacob Stern created one of the most prominent banking institutions in Germany, Jacob S.H. Stern & Co. His sons then followed in his footsteps, becoming founders and shareholders in major European banks such as BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank.