Stuart Fowler has unusual views for a financial services practitioner. He is a fierce critic of the commission-based sales system the retail investment business relies on, and deeply sceptical about traditional active management.

He runs his own business, a financial planning and investment management practice called No Monkey Business, according to those principles. The business charges customers on a fixed fee basis. There is no asset based or performance fee, and absolutely no commission element. "We align our interests by detaching them," says Mr Fowler, who disputes the notion that performance fees are a good way to align interests.