Sarasin & Partners

Investment leadership is split by function. Sam Jeffries heads the Asset Management team with ultimate responsibility for investment performance. Phill Collins serves as Chief Investment Officer of multi-asset, overseeing the multi-asset team, while Alex Barr leads private markets through Sarasin Bread Street. The firm's Investment Policy Committee co-authors the central asset allocation guidance.

Sarasin & Partners was originally formed in 1983 from the J. Safra Sarasin private banking group. Today it operates as a limited liability partnership owned partly by its London management (40% voting rights) and partly by Bank J. Safra Sarasin (the remainder). This structure grants the firm operational independence while maintaining access to the Swiss group's research and client networks.

The firm operates across both. Its traditional listed-market business manages direct equity, multi-asset, fixed income, and real estate portfolios through segregated mandates and pooled Charity Authorised Investment Funds (CAIFs). Through its 2022 acquisition of Bread Street Capital Partners, now Sarasin Bread Street, it also commits to private market funds and co-investments alongside external managers.

The Sarasin Bread Street unit, formed in 2022, explicitly provides access to 'private market opportunities' — a scope that typically includes primary fund commitments and co-investment capabilities. Alex Barr and Guy Eastman, the senior private-market team, brought over 30 years of private equity investing experience from Aberdeen Standard Investments and SVG Advisers, where they managed fund-of-funds and direct co-investment programmes.

The firm does not publish an explicit exclusion list. However, its thematic investment process is built around six long-term themes paired with a stewardship framework that weaves ESG factors into research. The firm's Climate Active strategy, spearheaded by Head of Stewardship Natasha Landell-Mills, focuses engagement on climate-intensive sectors, which suggests underweight or selective exposure to high-carbon transition laggards.

The private markets side sources through its senior team's long-established network: Alex Barr and Guy Eastman have operated at the nexus of UK and European private equity for decades. On the listed side, deal flow originates from a global thematic filter — six long-term trends form the basis of the research framework — combined with a stewardship overlay that tracks corporate sustainability signals. The firm's deep charity-client base in the UK also provides a distinct distribution-sourcing tie to institutional consultant networks.

The firm itself does not operate a separate philanthropic foundation, but many senior team members hold personal trusteeships at charities such as Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity, the Parachute Regiment Charity, and the British Humane Association. Sarasin & Partners' core institutional franchise is managing assets for UK charities — with over £8.5bn in charity assets — which structurally embeds charitable governance within the client base rather than through a dedicated grant-making arm.