Some of Britain’s best-known fund managers are wobbling. Terry Smith and Nick Train have failed to beat their peers in the past two years, and Tom Slater, who manages the Scottish Mortgage investment trust, has lost investors 13pc in the past year. In total they manage nearly £50bn.

Mr Smith’s £26bn Fundsmith Equity fund suffered when two of its top 10 holdings, PayPal and Meta (formerly Facebook), lost 35pc each this year. Mr Train’s mistake was not to buy any of the largest American tech stocks, such as Apple and Microsoft, while Scottish Mortgage’s bets on pandemic stocks such as Netflix and Peloton faltered as the economy reopened.

The managers, who specialise in buying expensive companies that can grow faster than rivals, also face headwinds as inflation rises and central banks step in.

This stumbling of the old guard has opened doors for younger fund managers, who are making names for themselves and attracting the attention of DIY investors.

Deirdre Cooper, who co-manages the two-year-old Ninety One Global Environment fund, is one such rising star, said Thomas Becket, of Psigma Investment Management. 

Her fund, which has already raised £1.8bn from investors, has outperformed the global stock market by 13 percentage points since launch. It invests in waste management, clean energy and other companies that make a positive environmental impact. 

Mr Becket said: “Clean energy had a stellar 2020, then lagged in 2021 and has suffered material losses at the start of 2022. But given that this exciting space is now unloved, there is a huge opportunity for investors. Ms Cooper’s fund is an excellent way to make money from government ambitions to decarbonise our economies.”