All good things come to an end

"Previously, many of these companies had the option of refinancing or borrowing money if they were in trouble. But it looks like this is no longer an option and could be problematic further down the road."

What is certain is the free lunch enjoyed by the UK Equity Income sector is over. The last 10 years of outperformance is highly unlikely to be repeated, and investors will have to work harder to find quality funds in the market, while managers will have to tread carefully to avoid further pitfalls.

James Kenny is a reporter at Investment Adviser