Rathbone Strategic Growth Portfolio
Manager David Coombs and his team run this multi-asset fund, which is one of the new breed of portfolios that target risk and then look to maximise returns. The team has an outcome-focused approach and complete flexibility of where to invest in order to achieve that.
Our Opinion
Fund Managers
Fund Managers
David is the head of the team responsible for managing the Rathbone Multi-Asset and Rathbone Greenbank Portfolio funds. He joined Rathbones in 2007 after spending 19 years with Baring Asset Management, where he managed multi-asset funds and segregated mandates. David began his career with Hambros Bank in 1984.
Will is responsible for managing the Rathbone Multi-Asset Portfolio funds. He joined the charities team at Rathbones in 2007 and was appointed as an investment manager in 2011, running institutional multi-asset mandates. He has been with the Multi-Asset team since 2015. Will graduated with a BSc Hons in Management from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology and is a CFA charterholder.
Fund Performance
Risk
Talking Factsheet
Investment process
Rathbone Strategic Growth Portfolio invests in actively-managed funds and investment trusts, as well as passives and direct equity holdings. Underlying assets will include fixed income, equities, commodities and property, as well as alternative investment strategies.
The team focuses not only on returns, but also on risk and correlation of assets. David uses a disciplined asset-allocation framework and a forward-looking assessment of correlation, risk and return, as the cornerstone of the investment process. Asset classes are then divided into three distinct categories – liquidity (those that can be bought and sold easily), equity risk and diversifiers.
Risk
Rathbone Strategic Growth Portfolio is targeting a risk of around two thirds of equities, so investors are shielded somewhat during market downturns. However, it is unlikely to match equity returns during short-term market rallies, although it should not lag by much. Ad-hoc stress testing of the portfolio is regularly conducted.
ESG
ESG - Integrated
The managers of this fund consider material ESG factors in their investment analysis and investment decisions. Material ESG factors are those that could have a significant impact on a company’s business model and financial outcomes, such as revenue growth or cash flow. This enables the managers to uncover any potential ESG risks or identify opportunities a company may have, before deciding whether they believe those factors could be financially material to that company. Crucially, the managers are not attempting to eliminate ESG risks completely, or only invest in companies with strong ESG opportunities. Instead, they are trying to gain a more well-rounded view of every company they look at to make more informed investment decisions and maximise risk-adjusted returns for clients. This means the fund will invest in companies that are adapting/transitioning to reach their ESG goals. The team wants to know the companies they invest in have strong levels of corporate governance and act in the interests of shareholders – while also acting responsibly towards their staff, consumers, and society.