"No one likes us and we don’t care,” chant the notoriously unruly fans of Millwall football club in south London. Independent new issue advisers are the Millwall of the City.

Initial public offerings used to be a simpler affair. The company would invite a bank or banks to run the process and the banks would talk to the investors, establish a price and parcel out the stock. Now independent advisers have gatecrashed the party. And lots of the other guests are getting hot and bothered.