Rathbones introduces an updated model for their active portfolio service
Rathbones Unveils Revamped Model Portfolio Service
UK wealth manager Rathbones has launched a revamped Model Portfolio Service (MPS), marking the first in a series of planned product enhancements following the merger with Investec Wealth & Investment. The new MPS, set to be available across 14 adviser platforms from autumn 2025, offers a range of seven "true active" portfolios designed to meet various client goals and risk profiles.
The MPS caters to a diverse range of investors, with portfolios that span from the conservative to the aggressive growth spectrum. These portfolios, managed by Rathbones' David Coombs, follow the firm's Long-term, Evidence-based, and Diversified (LED) approach to asset allocation and risk management.
Each portfolio is tailored to offer active management based on risk, investing across a wide spectrum of assets such as global equities, private equity, infrastructure, commodities, corporate bonds, emerging market debt, REITs, and various fixed income instruments. The asset mix is designed to include low-correlation assets to manage downside risk in market stress conditions.
The MPS is supported by Rathbones’ extensive research teams and expert investment managers who monitor, adjust, and tailor portfolios to changing market conditions and client needs. This human-led approach sets the MPS apart from portfolios managed by algorithms or templated asset mixes.
The MPS is positioned as a scalable solution for financial advisers, simplifying portfolio management while providing clients with professional, active investment management aligned to their goals and preferences. The service aims to keep portfolios aligned with client outcomes, even in volatile market conditions.
Key features of the MPS include robust research and ongoing management, diversified asset classes, a focus on diversification and risk control, performance transparency, and clear risk disclosure. Existing clients in the MPS will move to the updated service at a lower cost, with ongoing charges capped at 0.5%. Portfolio oversight for the MPS will be led by Andrea Yung, formerly head of MPS at Investec Wealth & Investment.
The MPS includes three new in-house funds built exclusively for this range and serving as its core building blocks. Changes in the MPS are implemented quickly, without the usual settlement lags and trading delays, ensuring agility in managing client portfolios.
Simon Taylor, head of strategic partnerships at Rathbones Investment Management, emphasizes the combination of two established firms in the launch of the revamped MPS. He notes that the MPS provides advisers and their clients with access to high-conviction, transparently managed portfolios.
David Coombs, head of multi-asset investments at Rathbones Asset Management, highlights the active, high-conviction, and outcomes-led nature of the new in-house funds. He underscores the MPS's commitment to agility, with funds being actively monitored and adjusted in real time.
The seven portfolios in the MPS are: Conservative, Cautious, Cautious+, Balanced, Balanced+, Growth, and Growth+. The MPS marks a significant step forward for Rathbones, offering a comprehensive and flexible solution for advisers and their clients in the pursuit of attractive risk-adjusted returns.
The Rathbones Model Portfolio Service (MPS) is designed to provide a scalable solution for financial advisers, offering active and diversified investment management across various assets, catering to different client goals and risk profiles, including personal-finance and business investments. Key features of the MPS include agility in managing portfolios, robust research, diversified asset classes, a focus on diversification and risk control, performance transparency, and clear risk disclosure.
