Hargreaves Lansdown is planning to secure "as good if not better" terms with fund groups on super clean share classes as Standard Life, after the latter announced it had secured preferential deals with 15 fund providers.

Funds with heavy exposure to financials are at the bottom of the IMA China sector over six months, as China's banking reforms caused a savage sell-off in financial stocks.

Blackrock has completed the purchase of Credit Suisse's ETF business as part of an expansion into the Swiss market.

The FTSE 100 started the second half of the year positively after promising Asian numbers were followed up by a strong showing from the UK's own manufacturing sector.

Polar Capital has completed the initial public offering for its Global Financials investment trust, raising £153m in the process.

Old Mutual's Stephen Message is looking to life companies with their own platforms to boost dividend payments for his fund.

Eurozone countries face a decade of deflation and stagnation if governments fail to tackle debt and slow growth plaguing the region, Standard Life Investments' global strategy head has said.

Some mid-cap managers are allocating nearly 40% of their funds to stocks outside the FTSE 250, leading to a dip in performance as the index rallied over the last six months.

The gold spot price hit a 33-month low today after positive US economic data strengthened the case for a tapering of quantitative easing, further eroding demand for safe havens.

Eclectica's Hugh Hendry added to a short position in Chinese equities in May, weeks before a soaring interbank rate sent the country's stock market into bear territory, it has emerged.