Responsible investment insights
We believe every long-term investor should care about responsible investing - whether your interest in environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors is driven by your values, or the strength of your investment portfolio.
But what exactly is responsible investment, and what impact can it have on your own wealth and the world around you?
Explore our thought leadership articles, reports and events on this topic to find out more.
To learn more please see our responsible investment page.
2022 review of the voting season
Our review of the voting season.
Read time: 1 min
Responsible investment at Rathbones in two-and-a-half minutes
Watch our video.
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Our in-depth guide on responsible investment
Our booklet explains our four core principles, or pillars, of responsible investment and how we put them into practice.
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Our responsible investment report 2022
Responsible investment – thinking about environmental, social and governance issues as an investor and shareholder – is a priority at Rathbones.
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Rathbones targets modern slavery for third year with biggest collaborative engagement yet
Rathbones has launched its third Votes Against Slavery engagement, securing support from 122 investors with assets under management totalling £9.6 trillion.
Read time: 4 mins
Planet Papers 7: Good COP, bad COP
A guide to human efforts to tackle climate change.
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Is obsolescence good for business?
Why we need to stop sweeping e-waste under the carpet.
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Planet Papers 6: Cities to the rescue
Why our planet needs them to survive
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Earth convention: natural capital, biodiversity and oceans
We welcomed clients to the fifth session of our Earth Convention series, in partnership with leading cultural events organisation, 5x15. The debate, ‘Natural capital, biodiversity and oceans’, explored how biodiversity is declining faster than at any time in human history.
Read time: 10 mins
Planet Papers 5: The economic ecosystem
How businesses, societies and investors can work together
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Rathbones Votes Against Slavery report launched, outlining successful engagement on modern slavery
20 of 22 targeted companies now compliant.
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What we eat and why it matters
Can we take a bite out of climate change?
Read time: 9 mins
Earth convention webinar: what we eat and why it matters
Earth Convention webinar: what we eat and why it matters. Our panel explores the global impact of the food system on the environment and climate change.
Read time: 1 min
Planet Papers 4: Feeding the planet
How can we take a bite out of climate change?
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Earth Convention online talks
Rathbones has partnered with 5 x 15, one of London’s leading cultural events organisations, to bring you a series of online Zoom talks on climate change and to ask the questions that need to be answered.
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Planet Papers 3: A brand new world
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Earth Convention webinar: consumers: fast fashion, manufacturing and plastics
Earth Convention webinar: our panel discusses fast fashion, consumers and manufacturing – our consumption patterns and the supply chains that feed them.
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Creating a green transition in energy and finance
On the same day that the UK’s largest asset manager, Legal & General, expanded its climate impact pledge, exerting greater pressure on companies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,
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Earth Convention webinar: Creating a green transition in energy and finance
Earth Convention webinar: watch our panel discuss creating a green transition in energy and finance.
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Planet Papers 2: Changing the planet
A growing number of people are questioning how their pensions and other savings are invested.
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Do we need a more benign capitalism?
Embracing responsible capitalism and moving away from a ‘profit is everything’ philosophy can address both issues of inequality in society and improve financial returns for investors.
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Planet Papers 1: A responsible recovery
We explore what it means to invest responsibly in our rapidly changing world, we make the case for a responsible recovery – building back better from COVID-19.
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Where the wind blows
Rathbone Global Sustainability Fund manager David Harrison discusses the rise of renewable energy and how it is making a more sustainable world.
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Responsible investment report webinar
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Bond life
Bad news is feeding many pessimists at the moment. Head of fixed income Bryn Jones sees a different, more optimistic, picture – and he’s investing in it.
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Responsible investment report 2020
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Responsible capitalism: why every long-term investor should care
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Responsible capitalism Q&A with Matt Crossman, Stewardship Director at Rathbones
At the centre of our responsible capitalism report our stewardship director Matt Crossman and governance and voting analyst Archie Pearson highlight our efforts to put this into practice over the past decade. They highlight the tangible benefits not just to our clients, and not just in financial terms, but to our wider society. Matt Crossman discusses some of the points he makes in the report in the short Q&A videos below.
Read time: 1 min
Responsible capitalism Q&A with Edward Smith CFA, Head of Asset Allocation Research at Rathbones
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Be clear, be trustworthy
Brits are on board with investing sustainably to make the world a better place, but impenetrable jargon and complicated processes are preventing them from doing so. We need to try harder to speak their language, says Rathbone Global Sustainability Fund manager David Harrison.
Read time: 3 mins
Responsible capitalism: benefiting society and investment returns
Since pulling out of the global financial crisis, markets have been on one of the longest bull runs in history. Yet as wages stagnate, productivity slumps and living standards drop, large swathes of people in Western democracies feel left behind. Many of them are losing trust in capitalism itself.
Read time: 2 mins
A parable of responsible capitalism
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A decade of investing responsibly
Our stewardship director Matt Crossman and governance and voting analyst Archie Pearson tell us about putting responsible investing into practice over 10 years under the UN-endorsed Principles for Responsible Investment and where we go from here.
Read time: 5 mins
The six principles
Then-UN secretary general Kofi Annan convened a group of the world’s largest institutional investors in early 2005, inviting them to start a process to develop the Principles of Responsible Investment. This panel drafted The Six Principles, which were launched in April 2006 at the New York Stock Exchange.
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10 years of engagement with the UN Principles of Responsible Investment
Led by Greenbank and growing through Rathbones.
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The origins of capitalism: a privilege with a purpose
Stewardship director Matt Crossman explains how the idea of a responsible capitalism — where firms exist for the wider benefit of society — is nothing new.
Read time: 6 mins
Rewilding our world
Rathbones is delighted to be a partner of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, whose latest strategy, Rewild Our World, represents an ambitious commitment to getting nature back on track in the face of “a planet under pressure”
Read time: 4 mins
Spend it with care
Fast isn’t always good. The rise of ‘fast fashion’ may have brought short-term happiness to some, but its long-term impacts are potentially devastating.
Read time: 4 mins
Why sustainable investing is here to stay
Consumers, companies and investors alike are increasingly recognising that environmental, social and governance considerations are becoming vital to businesses’ long-term success. The benefits for wider society are also likely to be far-reaching.
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In pursuit of green
Sustainable investing isn’t just about avoiding the risks of outdated businesses or environmental PR disasters, explains our Global Sustainability Fund manager, David Harrison.
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Plugging into circular solutions for electronic goods
Innovation in the design and manufacture of electronic products and devices has resulted in greatly expanded access and brought about benefits for society that were inconceivable only a few decades ago.
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Rathbone Greenbank Review Spring 2019
Collins Dictionary’s word of 2018 was ‘single-use’, an unsurprising choice for a year during which public awareness of global plastic waste increased significantly.
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