Wealth Manager: why James Hambro & Partners’ Langrish sacrificed his bonus

Choosing to give up your annual bonus in order to invest in the future growth of your company is no small ask in this day and age, but it is clearly something that the majority of partners at James Hambro & Partners believe is worthwhile. 

One such, investment director John Langrish, explains: ‘I believe so much in what we are doing that I have foregone things like annual bonuses. Most of the partners here have put their money back into the business – because we had the merger with Calkin Pattinson – and we actively bought this company out of JO Hambro Capital Management (JOHCM).

‘There have been two fund-raisings since I have been here, so everyone is participating in that so we are not sat here taking a huge amount of money off the top, we are ploughing money back into a fast-growing company that we see there is a great future for. Not everyone that comes in is just given equity, they have to buy it, or earn it. I can say to my clients that all of my investable wealth is in the business.’

Langrish also views it as a positive and reassuring sign that the remaining 20% of James Hambro’s share capital not owned by its staff is held by the fund managers at JOHCM through the partnership or direct stakes.

‘Those guys are good investors. They make fantastic returns for their funds and they have seen the opportunity we have here and they are willing to put their own money in, as we are also prepared to put our money in.’

Esconced in one of the company’s meeting rooms, which has unconventional art on the walls, including a pencil drawing of two dapper gentleman marked with a red squiggly line running through the background, one gets the feeling James Hambro is by no means a stuffy organisation.

While the wealth management business launched in April 2010 can lay claim to having the historic Hambro brand behind it, the young business has been outward looking in its approach, which helps explain why it has picked up assets from a number of different sources. 

Having grown assets to just under £500 million in the summer of last year since launch, the business has now passed the psychological £1 billion mark, following its merger with high net worth financial planner Calkin Pattinson & Company, with total assets under management, advice and administration standing at around £1.6 billion.

The two teams operate under the same roof in James Hambro’s Mayfair office, while Calkin Pattinson has dropped its brand and is to be renamed James Hambro & Company, a subsidiary of the group and a separate entity to the existing investment management department.