The suspension and subsequent closure of the Woodford Equity Income fund revealed to clients that even products run by individuals with stellar long-term track records can fail, making the job of fund selection more difficult.

As well as the asset allocation, the fund picker must also worry about ensuring the risk profile of an individual fund is aligned with that of the client, consider whether the investment style of the fund managers, if they have one, is in vogue at this time, and whether that matters.

There is also how long to stick with an underperforming fund.

All these issues will be looked at in some detail in the following guide. It is worth an indicative 60 minutes' CPD.

David Thorpe is special projects editor of FTAdviser and Financial Adviser