Threadneedle is a big fund group, with ￡62bn ($97bn) under management. It is part of an even bigger one – Ameriprise Financial, which boasts $600bn of assets under management and administration. But there is nothing grandiose or flashy about Threadneedle. In fact, you could argue the group is a little understated.

This is quite deliberate though. The group nurtures a team approach that discourages the development of star managers, and refuses to jump on new product bandwagons. This probably means it attracts fewer headlines and less assets, as star managers play well in the retail investment market and the press, and fashionable products are easy to sell. But becoming too reliant on either route to asset-gathering can backfire badly, as groups like Gartmore and New Star have discovered.

Crispin Henderson, Threadneedle’s chief executive, says: “Ours is a more sustainable model, as we’ve seen from the demise of those who did rely on that [star manager] model.”