Rathbones chief Paul Stockton retires
Rathbones group chief executive Paul Stockton is set to retire from his role after six years in the job.
Stockton, who has worked at the asset manager for the last 16 years, will step down from the firm at the end of September, the company’s said today.
He will be succeeded by Jonathan Sorrell who will join the business as CEO designate, subject to regulatory approval, on 1 July.
Stockton had previously told Rathbones‘ board that he planned to retire on his 60th birthday, which will be in the second half of 2025.
Stockton is expected to retire at least three months after the migration of Investec Wealth & Investment’s clients onto the Rathbones platform is complete.
Therefore, Investec analysts Rahim Karim and Jens Ehrenberg said the announcement does not reflect “in any way on the pace or likely success of the integration plans which we understand are now effectively managed on a day-to-day basis by a standalone team”.
“We do however acknowledge that this might result in a delay to the articulation of the group’s updated capital allocation framework, which we had hoped might happen alongside the second-half of 2025 results at the end of July,” they added.
Therefore, they now expect an announcement on the issue in early 2026, though they added that there was “scope for a material cash return” such as a share buyback to be announced alongside it.
Before becoming CEO, Stockton joined Rathbones as group finance director in 2008, before being promoted to managing director of Rathbones Investment Management in 2018.
Sorrell joins Rathbones from derivatives investment management firm Capstone Investment Advisors, where he has been president since January 2020. Prior to that, he was chief financial officer and then president of FTSE 250 hedge fund Man Group.
“Rathbones has been a big part of my life, and my decision to retire has inevitably been taken with mixed emotions,” said Stockton.
“It has been an honour and privilege to serve as group chief executive. I am deeply proud of our people and everything they have achieved. I would like to thank every one of them for their significant contribution.”
“It’s a true honour to lead what is a great business with a highly talented executive team supporting over 110,000 clients to secure their financial futures,” added Sorrell.
“With that comes a great sense of responsibility to ensure Rathbones continues to succeed and deliver for our clients and, as a result, for our people and shareholders.”