Jules Bache and his family relocated to the United States from Germany in the 1870s. He took over a brokerage operation started by his uncle and names it J. S. Bache & Co. in 1882. His nephew Harold joined the firm in 1914 and renamed it Bache & Co. in 1945. For many decades the firm vied with Merrill Lynch as one of the largest securities brokerage firms in the country. During the early 1970s, it made a series of strategic acquisitions, bringing it recognition in the areas of research and utility finance as well as additional brokerage capacity-Halsey, Stuart & Co., Shields & Co., and Model, Roland & Co. (which had the only foreign equities research department on Wall Street for many years). In 1981 the firm was acquired by the Prudential Insurance Company of America and changed its name the following year to Prudential-Bache Securities Inc. Underscoring the ever strengthening relationship between Prudential Insurance and the firm in 1991, Prudential-Bache Securities changed its name to Prudential Securities Incorporated. In 1996, it became the first full-service brokerage firm to give clients Internet access to their account information. Today, Prudential Securities has almost three hundred offices in twenty countries around the world. It employs approximately eighteen thousand, including approximately 6,700 financial advisors. The firm provides individuals, institutions, corporations and governments with such services as investment advice, asset management, securities brokerage, investment banking and retirement planning. Its ties to Prudential Insurance provide a strong source of capital for its many private transactions. In addition, the firm has developed industry leadership in the offering and management of closed-end investment companies.