Martha Back is an Investment Director at Rathbones Group Plc, a UK-based wealth and investment management firm. She joined Rathbones in 2016 and specialises in managing multi-asset investment portfolios for private individuals, pensions and family trusts. She began her career on the graduate training programme at Cazenove, gaining broad experience across the business before focusing on private client investment management.

In 2006, she joined HSBC Global Asset Management within its discretionary wealth division, where she later held a director role with regional responsibility for London, working closely with clients and their advisers. Martha is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investments (CISI) and holds the Securities Institute Diploma. She graduated from University of Edinburgh in 1999 where she read Geography.

Martha offers valuable careers advice: to find joy in what you do, accept that your job may have its less attractive aspects, and remember that success is what you want it to be.

At Downe House she remembers how Maths was taught in real-world contexts – mortgages, taxes, interest rates. That practical foundation shaped her ability to think critically and make rational decisions, key skills in finance.

She finds the most rewarding part of her job is getting to know clients' stories and goals. Martha’s most valuable advice is to find joy in what you do, accept that your job may have its less attractive aspects, and remember that success is what you want it to be.

Read more about our other inspiring alumnae in our Cloisters magazine