We recognised the importance of responsible investing in 2009 when we were one of the early private wealth managers to sign up to the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment.  Going even further back, we have had a dedicated team for nearly 25 years –  Rathbone Greenbank, one of the pioneers in this field – for clients who want specialist ethical, sustainable and impact investment management. 

We aim to lead the UK wealth sector by adopting an intelligent and active approach to responsible investment that takes a holistic view of investment opportunity and risk. 

Being leaders in responsible investment will allow us to provide clients with new investment opportunities, identify high-quality investments and contribute to solving the problems facing society.

Responsible investment in two-and-a-half minutes

Our video on responsible investment outlines the challenges facing people and planet and how these can affect the value of investments. The animation also explains how we approach responsible investment.

Our responsible investment principles

We believe it is in the best interests of our clients that the companies we invest in adopt best practice in managing environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks. This provides each company with a framework for managing its operations in the long-term interests of its shareholders. We see it as our responsibility to be good, long-term stewards of our clients’ wealth, as outlined in our responsible investment policy.

We are guided by four responsible investment principles:

• ESG integration: where possible, we consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in the evaluation of investments  we hold directly for you, to help identify ESG opportunities and risks

• voting with purpose: we actively vote across all votable holdings, unless these are very small. This may involve voting against management to help drive positive change

• engagement with consequences: we prioritise engagement where we can make a real difference in addressing systemic environmental and societal challenges. We are prepared to reduce our holdings in companies that present an ongoing ESG risk

• transparency: as a prominent participant in the financial markets, we are committed to being transparent about our approach to responsible investment. We actively report on the progress of our responsible investment activities to our clients, shareholders and other stakeholders.

Our booklet, ‘Responsible investment at Rathbones’, explains our approach. 

Our full responsible investment policy can be viewed here.

Looking forward

We will continue to integrate responsible investment into our well-established process and services. These enhancements will better enable us to tailor portfolios to individual clients’ needs and values, consider a wider range of ESG risks and identify more sustainable investment opportunities.

Our aim is to cater to the needs of all clients – whether their interest in environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors is driven by their values, or simply by the desire for the best risk-adjusted returns.