Investor nervousness over subprime losses in the US – which Ben Bernanke on Thursday cited at up to $100bn – is hurting demand for financial share offerings.

London’s MAN Group on Thursday blamed concerns about the impact on the financial sector of defaults on home loans to the riskiest borrowers for raising only $2.9bn, against a target of $3.5bn-$3.8bn from floating MF Global, its brokerage arm. The shares closed down more than 8 per cent from the $30 listing price at $27.55.