Bristol-based green investment firm Rathbone Greenbank has strengthened its specialist ethical, sustainable and impact investment team with two new appointments.
Sophie Lawrence joins Greenbank’s in-house research team as a senior researcher, responsible for assessing the social and environmental performance of investments while David Nicholsby arrives at the investment team as an investment manager specialising in managing ethical portfolios on behalf of private clients, trusts and charities.
Sophie, pictured, will also be conducting bespoke environmental, social and governance (ESG) and impact reporting for clients, and managing engagement activities on topics such as climate change and healthy food.
Prior to joining Greenbank, she worked at Barclays Bank and, most recently, at London-based KKS Advisors, where she specialised in sustainable investment. She also holds an MSc from Imperial College London in Environmental Technology.
David, pictured, previously worked as an analyst at Oxfordshire-based Courtiers Asset Management, where he was responsible for researching global equities, developing equity screening models, monitoring collective investment funds and managing Courtiers’ ethical strategy.
He holds a Bachelors in Economics from the University of Manchester and is a CFA Institute CFA Charterholder.
The new hires coincide with the launch of Greenbank’s Vision with Values publication, which highlights the team’s role in the ethical, sustainable and impact investment space over the past 20 years. 
Head of Rathbone Greenbank Investments John David said: “Sophie and David share our ambition to facilitate deeper, long-term human, business and institutional change through investing in organisations that are consistent with a low-carbon, healthy and equitable society.
“They join us at a pivotal time as we continue to push the frontier in ethical, sustainable and impact investment forward.
“Our vision is to become the natural home for investors seeking to align their investments with the change they want to see in the world.”
Sophie Lawrence added: “I am excited to be joining a team that has been a pioneer in the responsible investment field. Greenbank has an extremely thoughtful and detailed approach to ESG integration and impact investment.
“The whole team understands the sustainable development themes that are going to shape the world around us, such as climate change and the rising threat to biodiversity. We share our clients’ motivation to invest in a way that is truly sustainable.”
David Nicholsby said over the past few years there had been considerable growth in demand for more ethical and sustainable investing approaches, and Greenbank had been one of the trailblazers in this area for more than two decades.
“It is so refreshing to find a ‘home’ where I can work with people who share my belief that fully considering the environmental and social impacts of a company makes sense both as an investor and as an individual who cares for the world in which we live,” he said.
“I’m excited to learn from everyone and improve my knowledge on the subject area while helping Rathbone Greenbank to strengthen its proposition further.”
Rathbone Greenbank Investments, part of Rathbone Investment Management, specialises in creating bespoke ethical, sustainable and impact portfolios on behalf of its individual, charity and professional adviser clients. It manages more than £1.4bn of funds.
