Karim has over 25 years of experience investing in private markets, focusing on private equity, credit, real estate, and distressed investing.

He began his investing career in 1999 at JP Morgan Capital and then at General Atlantic Partners, specializing in private equity and growth capital, before joining Oaktree Capital Management in 2005 as a founding member of its European team. As Co-Portfolio Manager of Oaktree’s European Principal Group, he played a key role in raising eleven private equity, direct lending, specialty finance, and specialty real estate funds.

During Karim’s time as Co-Portfolio Manager, the European Principal Group experienced significant growth in assets under management and successfully expanded its product offering from private equity to distressed debt, real estate and lending.  Karim led close to 30 transactions during that time with many highly successful exits across various sectors.  During his nearly 19 years at Oaktree, he also contributed to the firm’s global strategy as a member of the Senior Leadership Council, guiding initiatives across North America, Europe, and South America.

Karim has served on the boards of over 15 companies while at Oaktree, including the Ritz Carlton Yacht Collection (luxury cruise), R&R Ice Cream (private label ice cream consolidator), Healthcare Activos (healthcare real estate), Avenga (digital transformation platform), Griffin Real Estate (multi-strategy real estate), ProService (financial services outsourcing), Stock Spirits Group (spirits consolidation platform), Campofrio (largest packaged meats business in Europe) and Unavets (veterinarian roll-up platform). 

Karim is actively involved in multiple philanthropic roles in the education sector.  Karim holds a B.Sc. in Economics from the London School of Economics and an MBA from INSEAD Business School.