They were the pin-ups of the asset management world. New Star’s stellar cast of fund operators were plastered all over billboards during the group’s award-winning advertising campaign when it floated in 2005. These were the superstars who were meant to propel the group to large profits and attract retail investors in their hordes.

But recently, the stars have begun to look less like supernovas. One, Stephen Whittaker, was asked to leave the company last week after a long period of underperformance. Then on Tuesday New Star was forced to suspend trading in its flagship European Property fund to try to stem the outflow of funds from investors desperate to claw back their cash. The developments cap a terrible year that has seen the company lose nearly 95 per cent of its share price.