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For IFAs, one benefit of multi-manager funds is that the responsibility of choosing a star fund manager is taken out of their hands.

Yet with the emergence of so many star multi-managers - and with fund performances taking a roller-coaster ride this year - IFAs now find themselves having to play the high-stakes game of picking the right multi-manager.

Darius McDermott, managing director at Chelsea Financial Services, said IFAs now more than ever need to knuckle down and do their research on the multi-managers they are picking for their clients.

“The past 12 months have really showed that multi-managers do things differently," he said. "There is such a big disparity in performance between multi-managers this year."

Mr McDermott pointed out that the average fund in the IMA Cautious Managed sector was down 17.1 per cent over the year, with the worst down 39 per cent and the best up 8.2 per cent.

The IMA Balanced Managed sector showed similar disparities, with the worst fund down 45 per cent and the best up 4.9 per cent, while the IMA Active Managed sector’s worst performer was down 45.1 per cent and the best up 2.8 per cent over the year.

Mr McDermott said there were some "pretty chunky differences" between funds, "so it’s important people know what they’re buying".

What is key, he added, is for IFAs to decide whether they are buying into the star multi-manager or the team process.

Ana Cukic Armstrong and Patrick Armstrong ran complex multi-asset portfolios at Insight. Now that they have left, and Mr Armstrong's deputy, Steve Waddington, has taken the reins, IFAs face a quandary - should they stay with the fund or the fund's managers?

Joss Harwood, director at Eldon Financial Planning, said multi-manager funds are an increasingly uncertain prospect for IFAs.

“You can’t be sure where the underlying funds are being held, so this plays havoc with asset allocation," he said. "This all gets worse in the current economic climate."