Sudden departures by senior figures are not uncommon in the banking world, but rare in fund management. So the abrupt end of Jamie MacLeod’s tenure as chief executive of Skandia Investment Group last week raised eyebrows. He went on Thursday, having only the previous day given a telephone interview to a colleague, although he was fielding a number of other calls at the same time, which led her to suspect something was brewing.

Mr MacLeod has a track record of abrupt departures, having left Investec suddenly in 2002. Skandia, part of the Old Mutual group, has appointed Nils Bolmstrand, previously head of Skandia Fonder, to take over from Mr MacLeod.