What a year the City had in 2022. War in Ukraine rocked markets. Inflation turned out to be anything but transitory, stubbornly holding in the double digits. Central banks turned their arsenals against the rising tide of supply chain shocks, fighting to keep both the doves and hawks happy as the global economy stared into a looming recession.

Nor did fears over a potential resurgence of Covid-19 subside either. While the world watched a thrilling football World Cup, asset managers were taking a battering as investors fled for the hills. The mega-mergers of the pandemic era fell flat — as did the Spac sponsors who had staked their fortunes on them.