Rathbone Investment Management, part of UK-listed Rathbone Brothers, has launched a specialist tax portfolio service aimed at investors seeking to hold smaller firms for their tax breaks.

The service comprises a single, discretionary investment managed account to employ a smaller company investment strategy; investments could include those that qualify under the UK Enterprise Investment Scheme and for business property relief against inheritance tax. (The EIS is a tax-advantaged vehicle with reliefs on income tax and capital gains.)

Clients are questioned at least once a year to capture changes in their investment strategy; the qualifying status of each individual investment is monitored by an external expert to address qualifying risk. The cost of this service is included within Rathbones’ annual management charges.

“Certain wealth managers have offloaded their smaller company tax-efficient portfolio services, preferring instead to concentrate on other parts of their business,” said Ivan Teare, Rathbones’ investment director.