A 31-minute listen. 

Mike Webb, chief executive of Rathbone Unit Trust Management, visited the Octo studios to reflect on his 10^th anniversary at the firm, and to pick out the biggest issues impacting asset managers today.

Mike discusses how he helped build the Rathbones funds business from £750m to £7.8bn, and the strategies that are gaining most traction.

He also gives his views on ESG stressing that, at a corporate level, businesses must keep on top of sustainability issues or risk “blowing up” a brand very quickly.

“Even if you are not at the forefront of ESG investing, understanding those risks is going to be critical to understanding whether a share price is going to benefit an investor or otherwise,” he says.

Looking back over his 33 years in financial services, he pinpoints the various crises at fund groups as most often caused by a mismatch between the underlying assets of funds and daily liquidity.

“I think what we’ll see is more thought being given as to what is the most appropriate infrastructure for a fund given the assets what you are going to be invested in,” he remarks.

“What I don’t want to see is a knee-jerk reaction which constrains managers in ways where we find it more difficult to add alpha.”

Mike also talks about the release of Rathbones’ value statement, and why this issue extends to culture rather than just delivering value for money.

He also talks about the problem of decumulation, where he believes asset managers find it impossible to design a single collective solution.

“In retirement things can happen that create far bigger liabilities, they have much bigger impact on the underlying investments than you do in accumulation,” he says.

“I would love to see more solutions as it will be the fastest growing part of the market.”