Old Broad Street Research has appointed Ruli Viljoen as head of investment research.

Aegon Asset Management generated gross sales of £270m in Q4, up 55% on the same quarter in 2008, while new business was £1,076m for the year, up from £542m.

Royal Bank of Scotland shares jumped 6.8% in early trading after the bank reported smaller-than-expected annual losses of £3.6bn.

The Financial Services Authority is working to improve liquidity and transparency in the UK bond market in the face of increasing competition from emerging markets.

Former Gartmore head of credit Simon Surtees has joined BNY Mellon Asset Management's Standish affiliate.

HSBC Global Asset Management is to launch a pair of ETFs tracking emerging market indices.

The FTSE 100 rose in early Monday trading following strong gains in Japan.

Barings' Percival Stanion remains positive on the long-term prospects for equities but has no plans to increase allocation in the near-term on valuation grounds.

Matrix is expecting double digit returns from its Asian Property Income fund on the back of a strong recovery in the Hong Kong and Singapore markets.

A number of healthcare stocks highlight Charles Stanley's top stock picks for February - with GlaxoSmithKine, Hikma Pharmaceuticals and Smith & Nephew all tipped to outperform.