Philip Gibbs, manager of a £700m (€770m) financials fund for Jupiter Asset Management in London, made money for investors last year despite an awful time for banks, making his fund the only long-only financial services vehicle that did not lose money for investors.

The Financial Opportunities fund returned 7% in 2008, according to data provider Morningstar, while the MSCI World Financials index returned -43%. The other 19 financial services funds available to UK investors reported performance ranging from -25% to -55% for the period, according to Morningstar.