The story has been familiar for a number of years now: independent advisers have been stealing market share from the big boys in mergers and acquisitions. But whether the seemingly inexorable rise of such firms is true across every sector is less clear.

The top 25 independent advisers and boutique banks have an M&A market share of 34% for the year to May 24, according to Dealogic, up from 33% in 2012 and 30% the year before that.