Ex-CBIZ CIO Anna Rathbun bets on alts in solo RIA launch with music twist

Former CBIZ chief investment officer Anna Rathbun has launched Grenadilla Advisory, a Cleveland-based RIA that will focus on alternative investments, including private equity, private credit, real estate. She also plans to invest in public markets primarily through active ETFs. 

Rathbun previously served as CIO of CBIZ Investment Advisory Services, the $73 billion wealth management division of accounting firm CBIZ, for five years before departing the firm in April. Prior to that, Rathbun was managing director of Clearstead, a Cleveland-based RIA with about $22 billion in AUM.

Grenadilla does not have any initial clients or staff beyond Rathbun, but is launching with Schwab as its custodian partner. In addition to personalized alternative investment portfolios for clients, Grenadilla will offer services around retirement planning, education saving, risk management, and charitable giving. 

“The differentiator for me is in the private markets, and what people call alternative investments,” Rathbun told InvestmentNews. “There needs to be a lot of discernment in placing client capital into private markets, and that discernment is going to be the central focal point of investing in private markets for Grenadilla.”

Rathbun is a classically trained musician and previously served as a faculty member at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Her new RIA is named after Grenadilla wood, which is used to make high-performance woodwind instruments such as clarinets and oboes. She says that sustainability will be a driving theme in Grenadilla’s approach to financial services.

“Growing up in an immigrant family, sometimes financial sustainability is an issue […] and when I went into the arts, sustainability was a topic once again, because arts organizations are constantly thinking of sustainability since they rely on philanthropy and on people supporting the arts to sustain itself,” explained Rathbun. “That sustainability mindset is very prominent in the way I approach asset management and is the mindset I'm going to be bringing to Grenadilla as I serve clients.”

Rathbun is a soprano singer who has sung at Park City Baptist Church, among other performances. She holds an economics degree from Harvard University, as well as doctoral and master's degrees in music from the Cleveland Institute of Music.

“When you're a performer and you're sharing a very intimate part of yourself through your voice, you have to have a certain level of compassion of wanting to connect with the audience,” Rathbun said. “I'm bringing that compassion, that connectivity and wanting to sort of heal and meet the audience members where they are into the client service part of my business.”