The Gowing family started the company in 1868 and continues to use the company as its principal wealth creation and preservation vehicle.

The company, under 5 generations of the Gowing family, has prospered over 150 years of economic booms and busts, world wars and market crashes. The company’s origins were in retailing which soon led to significant property investments being made across Sydney’s CBD. At one stage, the Gowings Market Street building completed in 1929 was the tallest building in the city.

Gowings also had an early interest in equity investments being one of the founding investors in Woolworths. In the 1950’s, a significant re-allocation of capital was made into listed equities. Since then, the company’s investment portfolio mix has shifted between equities, property and private equity investments according to the prospective outlook for each.