Formerly established in 2005 from an existing ethical practice at Rathbones that dates back to 1992, Rathbone Greenbank provides personalised and professional investment management services for investors who want to ensure their investments take full account of their environmental, social and ethical concerns.
The team works with private individuals, trusts, charities, pension funds, and their professional advisers and manages only ethical and responsible investment portfolios. Understanding and interpreting environmental, social and ethical issues is integral to the business, which focuses on actively challenging companies in which it invests to improve their record on, primarily, climate change and human rights.
The Greenbank was a founder of the Aiming for A shareholder campaign, which is lobbying some of the world’s biggest oil and gas companies to meet its disclosure requirements and reduce their carbon intensity. It was also instrumental in passing the Modern Slavery Bill through Parliament in 2014, gathering support from asset managers with £940bn under management to persuade the Prime Minister of the Bill’s support from the City.
Although a relatively small proportion of Rathbone’s total assets under management of around £26n, the Greenbank is the investment bank’s fastest growing division, with over 1,200 clients across the UK and more than £850 million in assets.
NB. Rathbone offers a bespoke portfolio management service, which means that clients tend to have at least £50,000 to £200,000 of investments to manage before it can help.