Sir Martyn Arbib (born 27 June 1939) is a British businessman who founded and led the Perpetual

fund management Asset management is a systematic approach to the governance and realization of all value for which a group or entity is responsible. It may apply both to tangible assets (physical objects such as complex process or manufacturing plants, infrastru ...

company during the late 20th century.

Early life

Arbib was born in

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the London Borough of Barnet, northwest London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient Manorialism, manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has ...

on 29 June 1939, and attended

Felsted School Felsted School is a co-educational independent school, independent boarding school, boarding and Day school, day school, situated in Felsted in Essex, England. It is in the British Public school (UK), public school tradition, and was founded i ...

, Essex. His family is Jewish.

Career

Arbib founded Perpetual Limited in 1973 in a small office at Hart Street,

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Thames, in the South Oxfordshire district, in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, Berkshire, Reading, west of M ...

, Oxfordshire. The company remained in the town as it expanded into newly built headquarters in 1994. He sold Perpetual to the fund manager AMVESCAP in 2001 for more than £1 billion, receiving £113m together with AMVESCAP shares worth £300m, and the company became known as

Invesco Perpetual Invesco, based in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, is one of the largest investment managers in the United Kingdom, managing £91.59bn in assets on behalf of individual clients, fund platforms, nominees, pension funds and other corporate institu ...

. He is a director of the Perpetual Japanese Investment Trust plc. He stepped down from Perpetual's board in 2015. In January 2008, Swindon Town Holdings Limited, where Arbib is an investor but not a director, took control of

Swindon Town FC Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

. The Arbib Foundation, established in 1987, sponsors schools in

Slough Slough () is a town in Berkshire, England, in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4, M40 and M25 motorways. It is part of the historic county of Buckinghamshire. In 2021, the ...

, Berkshire which include the Langley Academy. Arbib was a major benefactor in the establishment of the

River and Rowing Museum The River & Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England, is located on a site at Mill Meadows by the River Thames. It has three main themes represented by major permanent galleries, the non-tidal River Thames, the international spor ...

at Henley, which opened in 1998. He was knighted in 2003 for services to charities, especially in education.

Political activity

Arbib is a Conservative Party donor. During the 2019 general election, he donated £10,000 to the central party and £5,000 each to Conservative candidates

Danny Kruger Daniel Rayne Kruger (born 23 October 1974) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for East Wiltshire, previously Devizes, since 2019. He became Shadow Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for ...

and

Dominic Raab Dominic Rennie Raab ( ; born 25 February 1974) is a British former politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor from September 2021 to September 2022 and again from October 2022 to ...

Personal life

In his spare time, Arbib is interested in

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

. His horse

Snurge Snurge (12 March 1987 – November 2006), was an Irish-bred British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career which lasted from September 1989 until September 1994, he ran thirty-four times and won seven races. He recorded his most im ...

won the

St. Leger Stakes The St Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over ...

in 1990. As well as Henley, he also has a home in

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

. His daughter Annabel is married to businessman Paddy Nicoll. Her father bought Culham Court for her in 1997 for £12 million, and in 2006, the Swiss-born British financier

Urs Schwarzenbach Urs Ernst Schwarzenbach, CStJ (born 17 September 1948) is a Swiss billionaire, financier and art collector. He is the founder of ''Interexchange'', the largest foreign exchange agency, in Switzerland. His fortune is estimated between 1.5 and 2 ...

bought it for £35 million, £10 million above the asking price.

References

External links

Rich list entry
in the ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'', 2005
Rich list entry
in the ''Sunday Times'', 2004 1939 births Living people People educated at Felsted School People from Henley-on-Thames British racehorse owners and breeders Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Knights Bachelor Conservative Party (UK) donors People from Hendon Businesspeople from the London Borough of Barnet {{UK-business-bio-1930s-stub