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Quarterly note | Assessment of value |
Fund brochure | Screening criteria |
TCFD Report | Case study |
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For additional fund documents and share classes visit our literature library
Awards and Ratings
Why invest in the Ethical Bond Fund?
- One of the UK’s oldest ethically managed bond funds, run by Bryn Jones since 2004
- Greenbank, an ethical, sustainable and impact research division of Rathbones that can’t be influenced by our fund managers, has a veto on holdings, minimising the risk of greenwashing
- A portfolio of higher-yielding investment grade UK bonds offers a compromise of risk and return that doesn’t compromise on its values
- Identifying big, long-term themes about new technologies, consumer trends or changes to the economic environment and investing accordingly
Fund Overview
We predominantly buy sterling bonds issued by companies, charities, the UK government and non-governmental organisations. The objective of our fund is to deliver a greater total return than the IA Sterling Corporate Bond sector, after fees, over any rolling five-year period. There is no guarantee that this investment objective will be achieved over five years, or any other time period. We use the IA sector as a target for our fund's return because we aim to consistently outperform the average return of our competitors. You can find our fund’s full objective and investment policy in our Key Investor Information Document (KIID), here.
At the same time, we avoid investing in activities that make the planet or its inhabitants worse off, and actively support those projects that are doing good in the world. You can read our ethical screening criteria in depth here.
Greenbank, an ethical, sustainable and impact research division of Rathbones that can’t be influenced by our fund managers, assesses all our investments on these positive and negative social and environmental criteria. Greenbank has a veto over all our investments to ensure profits never override sustainability. Our fund managers then compare prices to determine the best value bonds to include in our fund. You can view our latest case studies document here.
When picking UK corporate bonds, we make three assessments. First, we look at the economic environment to determine which industries we want to own and the duration, or sensitivity to interest rates, of our investments. Then we use the Four Cs Plus approach to evaluate creditworthiness.
We assess:
- Character: Whether a company's managers have integrity and competence
- Capacity: Ensuring a company isn't over-borrowing and has the cash to pay its debts
- Collateral: Are there assets backing the loan, which reduces the risk of a loan?
- Covenants: These loan agreements set out the terms of the bond and restrictions on the company
- The Plus: We think differently to the market; sometimes contrarian, sometimes sceptical of orthodox thinking, but always opinionated
These twin processes of investment and ethics mean all our investments have a sound investment case and a solid sustainability record.
Click here for the latest assessment of our performance.
MiFID II charges
I class
Ongoing charges figure (OCF) as at 31.03.2023
0.66%
Transaction costs
0.11%
Total MiFID II charges
0.77%
The MiFID II charges include the Ongoing Charges Figure (OCF) and transaction costs.
I-Class Single Strategy application form (Individual Investor)
8 July 2024
I (acc), I (inc)
Download FileI-Class Single Strategy application form (Corporate Investor)
8 July 2024
I (acc), I (inc)
Download FileS-Class Single Strategy application form (Corporate Investor)
8 July 2024
S (acc), S (inc)
Download FileMeet the fund manager
BRYN JONES
Head of fixed income and fund manager
BRYN JONES
Head of fixed income and fund manager
Bryn is head of fixed income at Rathbones and is lead manager of the Rathbone Ethical Bond, the Rathbone Strategic Bond and the Rathbone Greenbank Global Sustainable Bond funds. He joined Rathbones in November 2004 from Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, where he managed $2 billion of fixed income assets. Bryn is a member of the Rathbone Strategic Asset Allocation Committee, non-executive chairman of Rathbones' Fixed Income Committee, and an adviser to the Rathbones Banking Committee. He also sits on the Investment Association’s Fixed Income Committee. Bryn appears regularly on CNBC and Bloomberg TV to discuss bond markets. Bryn graduated from Birmingham University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Geography in 1995.
Bryn is head of fixed income at Rathbones and is lead manager of the Rathbone Ethical Bond, the Rathbone Strategic Bond and the Rathbone Greenbank Global Sustainable Bond funds. He joined Rathbones in November 2004 from Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, where he managed $2 billion of fixed income assets. Bryn is a member of the Rathbone Strategic Asset Allocation Committee, non-executive chairman of Rathbones' Fixed Income Committee, and an adviser to the Rathbones Banking Committee. He also sits on the Investment Association’s Fixed Income Committee. Bryn appears regularly on CNBC and Bloomberg TV to discuss bond markets. Bryn graduated from Birmingham University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Geography in 1995.
In Conversation
Manager Bryn Jones highlights the strong, first-quartile performance of his fund so far this year. He discusses how he’s managing portfolio duration, discusses what has worked this year and gives his outlook for bond markets into year end.