In February, four days before abruptly disappearing on medical leave from which he would never return, Magellan Financial Group’s chairman and chief investment officer, Hamish Douglass, assured investors in the falling equities market that “you only lose if you sell”.

On Monday evening, Douglass sold two-thirds of his shares in Magellan, or 7 per cent of the company, in a block trade crossed by Barrenjoey (who else?!).