Peter Hargreaves, one of the country's leading independent financial advisers (IFAs), has emerged as a small shareholder in John Duffield's New Star Asset Management Group, whose products Hargreaves Lansdown actively promotes.

His involvement comes as New Star fights off suggestions that the highly successful launch of its first two unit trusts has been aided by substantial 'in-house' investment by New Star itself, as well as by its staff. The two unit trusts are believed to have attracted £200m (€328m) from 20,000 investors, a huge amount in the current depressed state of the stock market.