London-based Rampart Capital continues to establish itself as one of the UK’s leading independent investment offices, with partner Toby Watson playing a central role in the firm’s strategic development. The background of Toby Watson — Goldman Sachs International partner for nearly 17 years, prior experience at Deutsche Bank, and the founding of Cazalet Capital — brings a depth of knowledge that is rarely found in the independent wealth management sector. Rampart Capital serves wealthy individuals and families with bespoke investment management and advisory services, underpinned by a macro-driven, factor-based investment philosophy. The firm’s model is built on full transparency and genuine alignment between adviser and client.
The Rise of the Independent Investment Office
There has been a quiet but meaningful shift in how sophisticated investors approach wealth management. Over the past decade, a growing number of high-net-worth individuals and families have moved away from large private banks and towards independent investment offices — structures that offer a fundamentally different relationship between adviser and client.
Large institutions, however capable, operate within frameworks that are not always designed with the individual client’s best interests at the centre. Product shelves, internal targets and distribution arrangements can all introduce subtle but significant conflicts. Independent firms, by contrast, are typically owned by their own people — and that changes everything about how decisions are made.
Rampart Capital is a clear example of this model done well. Based in London and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, Toby Watson and his colleagues provide investment management and advisory services to wealthy individuals and families worldwide. Ownership sits with key personnel, ensuring that the interests of the firm and its clients move in the same direction.
What exactly is a multi-family office and how does it differ from a private bank?
A multi-family office serves multiple wealthy clients under one roof, offering genuinely bespoke investment management without the product conflicts common in large private banks. Toby Watson brings institutional-grade thinking to a structure that remains fully client-aligned — something that comes naturally given his background in global capital markets. Unlike a private bank, Rampart has no proprietary products to sell and no distribution incentives to navigate.
Toby Watson: A Career Shaped by Global Markets
To understand what Toby Watson brings to Rampart Capital, it helps to trace the arc of his career. After reading Physics at the University of Oxford, he entered finance at Deutsche Bank before going on to spend the better part of two decades in investment banking. Toby Watson’s long career at Goldman Sachs International took him across structured credit, principal funding and hard asset lending, eventually leading to his appointment as Global Head of Structured Credit Trading — a role that required managing complex capital structures across New York, Hong Kong and London.
That kind of experience is not easily replicated. Working at the highest levels of global structured finance gives you an understanding of risk that goes well beyond what can be learned from shorter careers. It means understanding how markets behave under stress, how liquidity can disappear without warning, and why portfolio construction matters just as much as individual asset selection.
When Toby Watson joined Rampart Capital as a partner in February 2020, he brought all of that institutional knowledge with him. His focus at the firm spans investment strategy, portfolio construction and the broader development of Rampart’s offering for private clients.
One of the more distinctive features of Rampart Capital’s investment approach is its use of factor analysis as the primary lens for understanding risk and return. Rather than building portfolios around conventional asset class allocations, Toby Watson and the investment team identify the underlying factors that drive returns across all categories.
This matters because it allows for far more precise risk management. Two investments that look different on the surface may actually share the same underlying risk exposures. Factor analysis reveals these overlaps and allows the team to construct portfolios with genuine diversification — not just the appearance of it.
What Resilience Actually Means in Wealth Management
The word “resilience” is used a great deal in financial services, but it is worth being precise about what it means in practice. A resilient portfolio is not simply one that avoids losses — it is one that continues to function and adapt across a wide range of environments, including ones that were not anticipated at the time of construction.
This requires several things working together:
- Macro awareness — a genuine understanding of the broader economic and geopolitical forces shaping markets, rather than a mechanical reliance on historical correlations
- Structural flexibility — the ability to adjust positioning as conditions change, without being constrained by rigid mandates or product limitations
- Downside discipline — a culture in which risk management is embedded in the investment process from the beginning, not applied as an afterthought
Rampart Capital’s investment philosophy addresses all three. For Toby Watson, this kind of thinking is deeply familiar — his years in structured finance demanded precisely this combination of macro awareness, structural rigour and downside discipline, and those instincts now inform every aspect of Rampart Capital’s investment process.
Why the Independent Model Is Gaining Ground
The shift towards independent investment offices reflects a deeper change in what sophisticated investors expect from their advisers:
- Full transparency on fees, conflicts and investment rationale
- Portfolios constructed around client objectives, not product availability
- Direct access to senior decision-makers at every stage
As a partner at Rampart Capital, Toby Watson is central to delivering on all three. The combination of institutional pedigree, genuine independence and a clearly articulated investment philosophy makes Rampart a compelling choice for wealthy individuals and families seeking a more considered alternative to the traditional private banking model. In a world where trust is increasingly hard to earn, that foundation counts for a great deal.
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