When US buyout firm TPG Capital agreed the biggest private equity deal of the year with its $4bn (€2.7bn)-plus acquisition of IMS Health this month, it highlighted the ability of new financial advisory boutiques to compete with long-established teams.

There is no substantive data showing the overall proportion of deals worked on by new advisers created since the credit crunch started hitting markets in 2007. Anecdotally, however, it seems the firms have seized an opportunity created by unhappiness with some of the guidance given by larger institutions in the run-up to the market peak two years ago.