Rathbones sets course for next stage of growth

Jonathan Sorrell, Group Chief Executive, said: "It is a privilege to lead Rathbones as we begin a new chapter in our evolution, one defined by clarity and consistency of purpose, and the opportunity to unlock the full potential of the business we have built. Since joining, I have seen first-hand the distinctive strengths that set Rathbones apart: the quality of our people, the depth of our client relationships, and our commitment to long-term value creation.

"Following the combination with Investec Wealth & Investment (IW&I), we have continued to build a stronger organisation. Our enhanced scale strengthens our ability to invest in ways that differentiate us: in our investment process, in our client proposition, in our people, and in our technology. We are creating a more capable organisation with a clear purpose: to help more people invest their money well, so they can live well. In pursuit of this purpose, our aspiration is to be ‘the best wealth manager in the UK, by far’ and we have aligned our strategy accordingly. Our goals are for Rathbones to be the first choice for clients, the first choice for talent, the most effective operator and the most reputable brand.

"We are competing from a position of real strength in an attractive and growing market. The opportunities ahead of us are significant, and we have the scale, expertise and ambition to capture them. With an energised leadership team and talented colleagues across the organisation, I am confident in our ability to deliver excellent outcomes for our clients and as a result for our shareholders." 
 

Financial and operational highlights

Our 2025 results show continuing momentum driven by the delivery of synergies, as we successfully completed the integration of Investec Wealth & Investment (IW&I), and markets recovered from their first-half lows. Synergy delivery exceeded expectations, contributing £76 million on an annualised run-rate basis, significantly above our £60 million target and supporting growth in underlying profitability. Statutory profit before tax rose 53.5% to £152.9 million, benefitting not only from these synergies but also from a sharp reduction in integration costs, while underlying profit before tax rose 4.6% to £238.1 million.

The Group's financial headlines are set out below.

• Funds under management and administration (FUMA) reached £115.6 billion at 31 December 2025 (31 December 2024: £109.2 billion).
• Profit before tax increased by 53.5% to £152.9 million (31 December 2024: £99.6 million), driven by synergy delivery and higher average FUMA, and benefitting from a reduction in the level of integration costs, which reduced to £39.9 million for the year (2024: £75.5 million) as the integration progressed.
• Underlying profit before tax increased 4.6% to £238.1 million (2024: £227.6 million).
• We have delivered cost and revenue synergies well ahead of our original £60 million target, with runrate synergy realisation of £76 million at the end of 2025. We consider 2025 to mark the end of the period of synergy delivery related to the integration.
• We report further progress in our objective to grow our underlying operating margin, which increased to 25.8% for the year from 25.4% for 2024. The rate of progress was impacted by the fall in the markets at the end of the first quarter, which resulted in the margin for the first half of the year reducing to 24.0% from 25.1% for the first half of 2024. The stronger performance that followed resulted in the underlying margin for the second half of the year increasing to 27.5%, bringing the full year margin to 25.8%.
• We remain confident in achieving our 30% underlying operating margin target by the fourth quarter of 2026, assuming FUMA growth of 3% in 2026, stable inflation and interest rates in line with current market expectations. In achieving the target, we also continue to see opportunities for further efficiencies to be achieved as we optimise our operating platform and processes during 2026.

Capital, proposed share buyback and declaration of final dividend

In 2025, we introduced a new capital allocation framework and launched our first £50 million share buyback, reaffirming our commitment to disciplined capital returns alongside continued investment in the business. We announced the completion of the buyback on 16 February 2026. We are today announcing an extension to that programme of up to £20 million. This buyback extension is subject to regulatory approval, and is expected to commence thereafter.

In July, we announced an interim dividend of 31.0p. Given the strength of our balance sheet and our confidence in the long-term future of the business, the Board has recommended a final dividend of 68.0p per share for 2025 (2024: 63.0p). This brings the total dividend for the year to 99.0p (2024: 93.0p), representing a 6.5% increase compared to 2024. The dividend will be paid on 13 May 2026, subject to shareholder approval at our 2026 Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 7 May 2026.

Delivering our strategic priorities

Across Rathbones, we have launched a comprehensive programme of initiatives to support our strategic ambitions. Many actions are already underway and will continue into 2026 and beyond, reflecting our commitment to sustained progress and long-term value creation. Our vision to be ‘the best wealth manager in the UK, by far’ requires Rathbones to be:

1. The first choice for clients

We want every decision at Rathbones to begin with a single question: how does this help our client? This client‑centric perspective underpins a set of initiatives designed to elevate the experience we offer: combining investment excellence, comprehensive service and an effortless client journey. In a competitive market, we are focused on earning client trust and loyalty. Our initiatives focus on three areas:

• A world-class investment capability across Wealth and Asset Management: built on discipline, judgement and truly active decision‑making. In Wealth, our investment framework focuses on the long‑term compounding of capital through investing in quality businesses at attractive valuations, supported by thoughtful diversification, prudent risk management and dynamic positioning for changing market conditions. In Asset Management, small empowered teams make high‑conviction decisions backed by strong institutional oversight and robust risk systems.

• Advice and solutions honed for the entire client lifecycle: Increasing financial‑planning penetration to deepen relationships, reduce outflows and support sustainable organic growth.

• A proactive, personalised and effortless service experience: Continuing to build trusted, longstanding client relationships and investing in technology that complements, rather than replaces, personal relationships. Our hybrid model blends self‑service convenience with tailored advice to support satisfaction, retention and evolving preferences.

2. The first choice for talent

Our people remain the foundation of our success and we aim to be the destination of choice for people in our industry. To attract, develop, and retain exceptionally talented people, our approach centres on:

• A great culture: We are strengthening the qualities that define us, including client commitment, long‑term stewardship, collaboration and care, while building a culture that emphasises clarity and simplification, pace and intent, and stronger advancement, recognition and reward.

• Motivating incentives: We have introduced a unified remuneration scheme for investment managers and financial planners that is simple, transparent and aligned to client outcomes. The new Rathbones Growth Unit Scheme extends share‑based incentives to Enablement teams, strengthening shared ownership, assuming growth targets are met.

• AI-powered tools and processes to make doing business easy: We are enhancing the client and employee experience by embedding AI into core processes, improving efficiency, insight and the quality of interactions across the business.

3. The most effective operator

To deliver sustainable, scalable growth, we are strengthening the effectiveness and resilience of our operations through:

• Data-led commercial excellence: Using data more systematically to improve outcomes, retention and growth. Insights will help guide resource allocation, reshape teams, and increase introductions to financial planning, while helping reduce outflows through better visibility of assets at risk and targeted interventions.

• Simplified operations: As we work toward streamlining our internal operations, we have expanded our relationship with Salesforce. During 2026, we will bring client lifecycle and relationship management together on a single platform using Salesforce and Xplan, replacing existing systems including InvestCloud. This unified approach will simplify workflows, reduce post‑integration inefficiencies, and free up time for investment managers and financial planners to focus on clients and growth.

• Capital efficiency: We have strengthened our capital‑allocation framework with clearer prioritisation for use of capital. Our business is capital generative and we will ensure that our capital allocation decisions are rigorous.

4. The most reputable brand

Rathbones is a brand with heritage, trust, and substance:

• A relevant and distinctive identity: We are committed to building a brand that is recognised for consistent, unconflicted delivery of client outcomes and superior service standards. Our modern visual identity and accessible, trusted content strengthens approachability and ensures our brand resonates and stands out.

• Demonstrating leadership and purpose: Building on our ethical origins and responsible business heritage, we aim to build trust with stakeholders, becoming a recognised force for good through our financial education and social mobility activities, our responsible investment thought leadership and our engagement with policy makers, among others.

• Efficient amplification to our core audiences: We are building visibility through an integrated media and digital ecosystem, improving discoverability, expanding PR and sponsorship activity, and reinforcing our reputation through strong social proof, including excellent Trustpilot ratings and a growing share of positive media coverage.

Read the full announcement.