How one of the oldest family businesses is adapting to a purpose-led investment philosophy

Founded in 1672, C.Hoare & Co is one of the oldest family businesses in existence. That’s not proven a hurdle to navigate the very 21st-century ideas on purpose-led businesses and investing. 

In fact, the importance of placing long-term decision making and stewardship of a successful family business makes adapting to those ideas easier, according to a member of the bank’s shareholders.

In an interview with Rennie Hoare with Family Capital’s publisher, David Bain, the 11th generation of the banking dynasty said the values inherent in a family business are very compatible with being a purpose-led business of the 21st century. 

“The ability to take a very long-term view is important when getting involved in impact investing,” he said. “The fact you’re talking about 5-10 year build timelines to even start to move the market in this area is very compatible with the way we think about us as stewards of the bank.”

Rennie, who is a partner and head of philanthropy at C.Hoare, also spoke in detail about the bank’s commitment to an impact investment fund it co-founded in 2016 called Snowball. He also gave the audience insights into the bank’s objectives in philanthropy and impact investing, and how these factors play a central role in C. Hoare’s strategic goals. 

He was speaking at a recent event on sustainable finance hosted by Guernsey Finance. To listen to the full interview please click here.