From a £600m profit to a £1bn loss: The investors who made the most from London-listed firms this year

The co-founder of fintech Wise has emerged as one of the top winners in London’s public markets this year according to data compiled by Argus Vickers. The firm looked at the shareholdings of major investors over the year, using London Stock Exchange filings and other reports for investors with individual company holdings of over £10m.

The figures, reported by The Sunday Times, showed Wise’s co-founder Kristo Kaarmann’s stake in the foreign exchange payments company jumped in value to £1.65bn during 2023, a £600m surge since 1 January – an average daily gain of over £1.6m.

He holds an 18 per cent ownership in Wise, which is worth around £9bn. Higher interest rates helped Wise report a 280 per cent jump in profit in its latest financial year. The stock returned 58 per cent in 2023.

But Kaarmann is currently facing investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) over a six-figure fine related to personal tax issues.

Despite the firm’s successful 2021 float in London, Kaarmann was listed among “deliberate tax defaulters” by HM Revenue and Customs for a late 2017-18 tax return, incurring a £366,000 fine.

Originating from Estonia, Kaarmann founded Wise 12 years ago to tackle excessive charges on international money transfers.

His spokesperson said Kaarmann has “devoted more time to keeping his personal admin in order” following the incident.

It also revealed substantial gains for figures like Simon Borrows of 3i, Sir Tim Martin of JD Wetherspoon, and Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou of easyJet. 

The biggest losers included Glencore investor Ivan Glasenberg, who faced a loss of nearly £1bn amid subdued commodity markets following Russia’s 2022 Ukraine invasion.

Peter Hargreaves of Hargreaves Lansdown, Lord Cruddas of CMC both also saw losses exceeding £100m. 

The FTSE 100 closed the year at 7,733, marking a 3.8 per cent increase since the start of 2023.