Asked this year who could succeed him as head of Pimco Bill Gross, aged 70, replied: “Think of me as a permanent feature. I’d like to be here a long time.” Sure, Bill. We’d all like to be here a while. But nobody – not even you – is immortal.

And you should be aware that mutterings of disquiet at your failure to name a successor to run the firm you co-founded in 1971 are getting louder.