Ravenscroft has appointed Alex Rich to the newly created role of ESG Equity Analyst and David Butler joins the investment services firm as New Business Manager.
Alex (pictured, right, with David Butler) is working within Ravenscroft’s discretionary investment team and will be responsible for analysing environmental, social and governance matters on underlying investments, primarily within Ravenscroft’s Global Blue Chip Fund. He said: “Interest in ESG is growing all the time and there is increasing demand from investors to balance traditional investing with ESG to improve long-term benefits.
“Ravenscroft is seeing that from our own clients and so have been looking at how they incorporate the non-financial factors of ESG into our investment analysis and decision making. We are passionate about investing in companies that can do well, by doing right.”
Alex is a a qualified accountant and has previously worked for one of the Big 4 and an independent practice before taking a sabbatical to travel and develop web coding skills. He added: “I’m hoping to bring the analytical skills from my time in audit to my role at Ravenscroft and be able to provide another arrow to Ravenscroft’s investment analysis bow. I’m very passionate about nature, geography and egalitarianism.
“Travelling has put me in good stead to look at investments objectively through an ESG lens and make sure those points of view get voiced and considered, allowing us to make the most informed investment decisions possible.
“There’s definitely a lot to consider with ESG, from both analytical and regulatory perspectives, so my biggest challenge I believe will be to absorb as much information as I can and then redeploy that in an effective way for the business and our clients.”
As well as being New Business Manager, David Butler will also provide MLRO and MLCO support to Ravenscroft. He brings with him 12 years’ experience working in the fiduciary and accountancy sectors and strong knowledge of both the GFSC and JFSC AML / CFT regulations.
David said: “I plan to use this understanding along with my prior experience of managing teams to enhance the skillset and offering of the New Business team to better support all areas of the business, to ultimately help ensure the clients initial experience with Ravenscroft is as smooth as possible.
“Ahead of Moneyval visits for Guernsey and Jersey in the next couple of years, certain areas are likely to get greater scrutiny. It’s therefore imperative that Ravenscroft’s reputation, and the Channel Islands as a whole, is protected and so I want to ensure that our AML and new business practices remain robust.”
David added that he had already been impressed by the company’s team spirit: “For me, people make a business and Ravenscroft seems to have a fantastic team across all areas and across all five offices. The company has a close-knit feel and teams are pulling in the same direction ensuring clients needs are put first. The group is also clearly agile and dynamic in nature as evidenced by the continual growth and expansion.”
