So Numis Securities has backed down on its brief but very public spat with asset management giant Schroders, but it is hard not to feel some sympathy for the analyst at the centre of the storm.

Schroders clearly hadn't expected to be called out on the fact that it said 85% of its assets were outperforming their benchmark over five years at the top of its annual results. More than 2,000 words later there was a rather understated reference to the fact that there was five-year comparator data for only 63% of all of its assets.