Asset management companies are closing or merging funds at an unprecedented rate as they scramble to bring costs into line with falling assets and revenues.

Some believe the slashing of fund ranges may be severe enough to result in a decline in the number of European funds for the first time in at least a generation, reversing a trend that has seen fund numbers balloon to 32,941, a rise of 31.6 per cent since 2002, according to data from Lipper FMI.