Financial News asked chief executives and business leaders in the European asset management, consultancy, investor services and pensions industries: “What was the biggest surprise of 2015?”. This is what they had to say.

Saker Nusseibeh
Chief executive, Hermes
The biggest surprise of 2015 was the shock exhibited by investors in reaction to the inevitable slowdown in China. A continuation of 7% economic growth ad infinitum was neither plausible nor sensible, yet the way this translated into a minor shock on other markets and on commodities reasserted our view that investment managers, despite their supposedly long-term horizons, still judge the future by looking at the immediate past.