Rathbones to suspend thousands of client account inflows after FCA probe deals £530m blow
Rathbones is set to lose out on hundreds of millions of pounds of inflows after it suspended contributions from thousands of customers following an independent investigation into its business amid concerns from the Financial Conduct Authority.
The review into the company, known as a skilled person review, uncovered compliance shortcomings in its UK wealth management business, following engagement with the financial watchdog.
Rathbones said it will undertake a two year remediation programme addressing the recommendations in the review, and will stop taking on new enhanced due diligence clients, the FTSE 250 group’s high-risk clients, for the next year, a major blow to the firm’s relationships with its most valuable customers.
Gross inflows from these clients totalled roughly £370m in the last year.
Meanwhile, inflows into general investment accounts from around 4,700 of these clients will also be paused, which account for around £530m in gross inflows.
£60m in costs
These actions are expected to rack up costs of £60m, but the shareholder dividend will remain unchanged while the group’s £20m share buyback programme will also begin shortly.
Rathbones will also cease charging investment management fees on cash balances within discretionary portfolios from July 1, damaging pre-tax profit by an estimated £9m this year.
Jonathan Sorrell, Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are committed to operating to the highest standards on behalf of our clients.
“The work we are undertaking will support and accelerate our vision to be the best wealth manager in the UK, by far. Our strategy is unchanged and we continue to make strong progress against the plan set out in February. I am grateful for the constructive engagement with the FCA, and the continued trust of our clients as we implement these improvements.”
The group’s share price crashed 16.1 per cent in early trading to 1,636.7p, with shares down 13.4 per cent since the start of the year.
Damaged ambitions?
The decision to halt the onboarding of its high-risk and complex clients could be a major blow to Sorrell, who took the helm in August 2025, and the wider group after it spoke of its ambition earlier this year to become the “best wealth manager in the UK by far”.
The group set it sights on becoming the country’s leading wealth manager following the release of its 2025 full year results in February, through becoming the first choice for both customers and talent, with Sorrell hailing AI as an effective tool which allows advisers to focus “on the human relationship we have with our client”.
Iain Hooley, group finance director, also said at the time that the group was also looking to attract older clients in a bid to capitalise on the “intergenerational wealth transfer that’s going to happen”.
Analysts at the time affirmed that the wealth manager must remain focused on building and maintaining client relationships to ensure growth.
Short-term hurdle?
Despite the tumbling share price and reduction of near-term financial estimates and profitability, Peel Hunt retained its buy recommendation for the wealth manager, viewing Rathbone’s decision as as short-term problem rather than a threat to its long-term growth.
In a note released on Tuesday morning, analyst Rae Maile, said: “It is our belief that these are not issues that have arisen recently, but which predate the appointment of the new chief executive and his new team.
“While dealing with these issues causes some shorter-term issues of management time, and some cost, the chief executive also makes clear that the process of change will support and accelerate the delivery of the corporate strategy.”
Maile added that it had already not expected “much progress” to be made to net flows in the shorter team as the new management establishes itself.