When the Financial Conduct Authority said it was going to investigate whether there was a lack of competition in investment banking services, the response from the industry was exasperated. “Lack of competition? Are they crazy? It’s brutal out there.”

Now that the regulator has turned its sights on the asset management industry, the reaction has been more muted. For good reason. Asset management may be much less concentrated than investment banking but it is dramatically more profitable and many insiders admit there are serious questions to be asked.