As rule-makers across the world react to financial crisis by issuing a bewildering array of new dos and don’ts, it is hardly surprising that over-reaching regulation has jumped back to the top of the list of concerns for asset managers.

Regulatory intrusion was identified as the most damaging micro theme by respondents to this year's Financial News CEO Snapshot Survey, with an overall rating of 3.7 on a scale of 1-5 (where 1 was "not worried" and 5 was "very worried"), followed by weak investor sentiment (3.3) and poor investment performance (2.95). In 2011, by contrast, regulatory intrusion came third with a score of 2.36 behind competition from emerging markets (3) and pressure on fees (2.64).