Tony Dye, the former chief investment officer of UBS-owned Phillips & Drew, told a meeting of 400 investment managers that the fund management industry would consolidate into a small number of marketing-dominated firms.

Dye, speaking at a seminar organised by the UK Society of Investment Professionals and Standard & Poor's, said this shift would take place as a consequence of last year's Unilever versus Merrill Lynch Investment Managers court case.