The Federal Reserve should have acted faster to stabilise financial markets and lessen the damage of the credit crisis, according to the chairman of one of the world’s largest money managers.

Chip Mason, chairman of Legg Mason, told the Financial Times: “I think they should have acted much sooner, been in the markets much earlier . . . It was pretty evident back in August and September that these issues were severe and I think, had they acted pretty swiftly at that time, we would have gotten a less severe result.