Rathbones Responsible Investment Summit 2025
The Rathbones Responsible Investment Summit
The Rathbones Responsible Investment Summit, hosted by Rathbones Greenbank, brought together clients, partners, and industry experts to explore the future of responsible investing. The event showcased Rathbones Greenbank’s deep expertise and leadership in responsible investment, while reaffirming Rathbones’ group-wide commitment to long-term, values-driven wealth and investment management. Through thought-provoking panels, targeted breakout sessions, and collaborative dialogue, the summit inspired action and strengthened relationships across our private client, charity, and adviser communities.
Session Highlights & Speaker Insights
Opening address
Rathbones’ commitment to responsible investing can be traced through a long history of social reform and the family motto: “What ought to be done, can be done”. Chief Executive of Wealth, Camilla Stowell, reflects on the key systemic pressures impacting global ecosystems, shaping regional markets, and risking irreparable harm to people and planet. In a deeply complex investment space, negotiating fickle markets and geopolitical curveballs, Rathbones’ dedicated Greenbank Investments team stay focused on ESG-based investment and stewardship philosophies aligning investment capital with sustainable goals.
Camilla Stowell
Chief Executive of Wealth, Rathbones
Camilla Stowell
Chief Executive of Wealth, Rathbones
Invest Well, Live Well: Navigating Systemic Risk in a Complex World
This session explored the connection between wealth generation and the environmental and social boundaries that underpin it. Panellists considered the role of investors and governments in addressing systemic risks, and how these risks shaped investment choices. The discussion highlighted how values, long-term objectives, and the desire for impact could be reflected in portfolios.
Michelle White
Head of Private Office, Rathbones
Michelle White
Head of Private Office, Rathbones
Max Richardson
Senior Investment Director, Rathbones
Max Richardson
Senior Investment Director, Rathbones
Oliver Jones
Head of Asset Allocation, Rathbones
Oliver Jones
Head of Asset Allocation, Rathbones
Agnes McAfee
Senior Ethical, Sustainable and Impact Researcher, Rathbones Greenbank
Agnes McAfee
Senior Ethical, Sustainable and Impact Researcher, Rathbones Greenbank
Climate Risk and Resilience: Turning Science into Action
Climate change was reshaping physical, financial and policy systems. This panel explored how to translate climate science into action and manage risk and resilience across systems.
Nicola Day
Deputy Head of Greenbank Investments, Rathbones Greenbank
Nicola Day
Deputy Head of Greenbank Investments, Rathbones Greenbank
Professor Tim Lenton
Professor of Climate Change and Earth System Science, University of Exeter
Professor Tim Lenton
Professor of Climate Change and Earth System Science, University of Exeter
Dr. James Richardson
Director of Analysis and Chief Economist, Climate Change Committee
Dr. James Richardson
Director of Analysis and Chief Economist, Climate Change Committee
Charlie Stratford
Head of Business and Partnership Development, UK Centre Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH)
Charlie Stratford
Head of Business and Partnership Development, UK Centre Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH)
Professor Thomas Tanner
Professor of Climate and Society, SOAS University of London
Professor Thomas Tanner
Professor of Climate and Society, SOAS University of London
Nature: Bridging the Ambition-Action Gap
A discussion focused on the gap between global biodiversity goals and real-world action. Panellists examined current strategies, the risks of inaction, and how financing and policy could help fast-track solutions to restore and protect nature.
Craig Lelise
Investment Director, Rathbones Greenbank
Craig Lelise
Investment Director, Rathbones Greenbank
Helen Avery
Director of Nature Programmes, Green Finance Institute
Helen Avery
Director of Nature Programmes, Green Finance Institute
Claire Lund
Global Vice President, Sustainability, GSK
Claire Lund
Global Vice President, Sustainability, GSK
Gustavo Bassetti
Partner and Investment Team Lead, Just Climate
Gustavo Bassetti
Partner and Investment Team Lead, Just Climate
Human Rights: A Return to First Principles
This session reaffirmed the universality and indivisibility of human rights, and their interconnection with investment. Panellists shared perspectives on justice and responsibility, before opening a wider dialogue on how investors could embed human rights across all decisions.
Laura Hobbs
Investment Director, Rathbones Greenbank
Laura Hobbs
Investment Director, Rathbones Greenbank
Mike Rebeiro
Chair of Spurgeons
Mike Rebeiro
Chair of Spurgeons
Louise Elridge
Head of Good Work, Share Action
Louise Elridge
Head of Good Work, Share Action
Emma Crates
Business and Human Rights Lead at Marshalls
Emma Crates
Business and Human Rights Lead at Marshalls
Matt Crossman
Stewardship Director, Rathbones Group
Matt Crossman
Stewardship Director, Rathbones Group
Keynote fireside chat
Greenbank’s Kate Elliot and Lindsay Hooper from the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership conclude the day with a look at the different drivers and solutions shaping the sustainability and investment landscape: why we need to accelerate a “necessary green industrial revolution” at scale; how sustainability trends have become central to business thinking; what we can do to change the narrative of corporate responsibility from moral duty to commercial advantage; why leadership today must fuel optimism and target realistic goals; and why investor signalling to markets remains critically important – “The challenge is not that change will happen, but whether it can happen fast enough to avoid dire climate and financial impacts”
Kate Elliot
Head of Research, Rathbones Greenbank
Kate Elliot
Head of Research, Rathbones Greenbank
Lindsay Hooper
CEO, Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL)
Lindsay Hooper
CEO, Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL)