Invesco’s Barnett: I’m not coming at this cold

“The situation here is very different as we are not looking for someone to manage these funds,” he said.

“Neil is doing it now and Mark will be. Mark has been managing money for a long, long time. The situation is not analogous to other situations that there have been with competitors or other situations where there has not been clarity.

“There will be people who want to take money out of the funds but these are large funds with massively liquid holdings. We know we will see some of that but Mark is the natural successor to Neil.”

Mr Trevers said he had considered what level of redemptions the funds might see and had “thought carefully about how to manage those”.

“Clients will make their decisions about who manages their money but we have always had a history of very strong managers,” he said.

“Neil has clearly been exceptional and it has been a privilege to work with him. But Mark is also exceptional and I am looking forward to working alongside Mark for years to come.”