Malik Karim, a former Conservative Party treasurer, earned £13.8 million in 2022 from his boutique investment bank after advising on several takeover deals before the war in Ukraine broke out in February.
According to The Sunday Times which reported it, Karim's payout from Fenchurch Advisory Partners, of which he is the founder and chief executive, was up 55 per cent in the year till March 31 after he worked on deals such as Abrdn’s £1.5 billion takeover of Interactive Investor, and the takeover of True Potential, a fintech group, by private equity firm Cinven.
The partnership’s 25 members also did well, averaging a profit share of £1.9 million.
The turnover went up from £34.7 million the previous year to £55.8 million, with profit reaching £48.4 million against £29.9 million the year before.
The 61-year-old Karim, who is an adviser to Nadhim Zahawi, chairman of the Conservative Party, said he had stepped back from the treasurer role to concentrate on Fenchurch’s expansion plans into the US.
He has been the first person of colour to serve as the party's treasurer.
The US move comes at a time when Wall Street banks, including Goldman Sachs, are laying off thousands of staff amid a shortfall of takeover deals.
Karim senses an opportunity in that.
“This is a great time for us to go over there and pick up good people. We have always done well when the market is bad — during the global financial crisis, Covid, we picked up clients," Karim was quoted as saying by The Sunday Times.
