Paul Marshall is not a happy man. The boss of $55bn hedge fund managers Marshall Wace writes in the FT that London’s stock market has become a global backwater, a stagnant pool left behind by the surging rivers in New York and Beijing. The reason, he reckons, is British investors’ supposed obsession with income, which forces companies to pay so much in dividends that there is little left for investing in tomorrow’s growth. The UK’s biggest quoted companies are stodgy businesses with high yields and a dreary outlook, while those with genuine growth prospects do not get the rating they deserve.