Rathbones Investment Director appointed new Chair of TheCityUK’s Business Council
TheCityUK has appointed Robert Hughes-Penney, Investment Director, Rathbones, one of the UK’s leading wealth and asset management firms, as the new chair of its Business Council. Robert succeeds Alasdair Haynes, Founder and CEO of Aquis Exchange, who has chaired the group for the last four years since its inception. Robert takes on the role with immediate effect.
TheCityUK Business Council meets at least four times a year, bringing together leaders innovative, high-growth companies from across TheCityUK’s membership with government, opposition MPs, policymakers, regulators, and other key stakeholders to promote and champion the important role financial and related professional services play in driving economic growth.
Robert said: “I am very pleased to Chair the Business Council and further build on the strong momentum generated by my predecessor, Alasdair Haynes of Aquis Exchange. The Business Council has become known as a forum for high-quality discussion on important economic, regulatory and social topics, and I look forward to working with members as we continue to feed into the broad debate about how our industry can support the government’s mission to drive economic growth in support of people saving for their future.”
“My 30 years at Rathbones has taught me that this is about helping men and women up and down the UK save for a better future, which is a link I hope to make more clearly for the City in my new role,” he continued. “The Mansion House Accord, by which up to £50billion of investment will be made in the UK by our biggest pension funds, is evidence of what collaboration and innovation can achieve. It is not right that there are millions of people in the UK with less than £100 in savings or many others who have saved more but fail to grow it properly because they’re unsure how. We need to widen awareness to give people confidence as well as provide a strong and effective market.”
Robert entered the City in 1993 after serving in the British Army across Canada, Germany and the UK. He has been at Rathbones for more than 30 years, primarily as an Investment Director managing global multi-assets portfolios for a range of clients. In that time, he has spent several years on the Board, Executive and Management committees. He has been a member of TheCityUK’s Business Council for three years and in 2018 was elected as Alderman for the Ward of Cheap in the City of London. Born in Brazil before spending some of his childhood in South Africa, Robert is a passionate supporter of financial literacy and education.
Robert takes on the role of Chair of the Business Council during the City of London’s Growth Unleashed campaign, launched in 2024 to demonstrate the City’s commitment to a bold growth agenda, championing diversity in the Square Mile, driving the adoption of new technologies and challenging industry to maximise opportunities through responsible risk-taking.
-Ends-
Notes to editors:
For more further information, please contact:
Hugh Morris, Senior Corporate Reputation Manager: hugh.morris@rathbones
Frances McNab, Senior Press Office Executive: frances.mcnab@rathbones.com
About Rathbones
Rathbones Group Plc (Rathbones), through its subsidiaries, is one of the UK’s leading providers of investment management services for individuals, charities, trustees and professional partners. This includes discretionary investment management, fund management, tax planning, trust and company management, financial advice and banking services. Rathbones manages £104.1 billion of assets (as of 31 March 2025), of which £15.4 billion is managed by Rathbones Asset Management Limited (as of 31 March 2025). Rathbones has over 3,500 people across UK locations and the Channel Islands.