Macoun says the stress on the markets will ultimately test business structures as well. This is one area he feels Pinnacle is more robust than some others as the contract between Pinnacle and its start-up boutiques takes some of the business management pressure off at a time when revenue may be dropping. The recent agreement with Solaris Investment Management includes a commitment from Pinnacle to support the manager with a large amount of capital for the next few years, “allowing them to just focus on producing returns for clients without the business pressure of building revenue”.

The two structures most at risk, according to Macoun, are those boutiques not strongly capitalised, and institutionalised fund managers who are under increased pressure from a parent that continues to demand revenue, or worse, threatens to sack if expectations are not met.

Farrell says he does ask the personal questions during times of market stress, but equally he asks about the decision-making behind the portfolio. “We do ask how are you coping? [We also ask] are you making any decisions over-riding models, what’s the time horizons you’re focusing on [with those decisions] – which is very important.”

The personal toll on managers is an important issue, he says, but then again “managers do get paid big bucks and they should be able to handle this sort of thing”.