Alexander Darwall, the high-profile fund manager who left Jupiter Asset Management late last year to set up his own firm, has apologised to investors for the outsize commitment he made to Wirecard, the German payments group.

The holding in SoftBank-backed Wirecard, which accounted for as much as 17% of Darwall’s £1.1bn European Opportunities Trust at one stage, has been one of the few black spots in an otherwise strong performance record for the European equities specialist.