Shortly after Mark Coombs joined Grindlays Bank’s Latin American department in 1983, it was acquired by the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) – and Coombs began rising through the ranks. He established what would become Ashmore inside ANZ in 1992 to manage its emerging markets portfolio, betting that the debt of developing economies could be turned into a specialist investment business in its own right.

In 1999, Coombs spun Ashmore out through a management buyout. Seven years later, he floated it on the London Stock Exchange. The company adopted a savvy acquisition strategy, snapping up US-based Emerging Markets Management in 2011 to expand its institutional client base. Today, Ashmore is a FTSE 250 company, managing $54bn in pooled funds, segregated accounts and structured products. It employs around 300 people across Asia, Europe and the US.

Coombs remains chief executive almost three decades after the management buyout, a tenure almost unheard of among FTSE 250 bosses. While Ashmore is one of the world's leading investment managers dedicated to emerging markets, he maintains a low profile. Coombs told The FT in an interview: “The company is the story, not me. We don’t have a star mentality. Ashmore has a team-based approach. We are not into legends.” Despite selling down his stake over the years, he made The Sunday Times Rich List 2026 with a net worth of £1.22bn.