Martin Currie has poached Swip's head of global emerging market equities Kim Catechis and investment director Alistair Reynolds.

UK retail sales rose by a worse than expected 0.4% from February to March, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show.

The FTSE 100 was up by just 1.21 points at 5,724.64 in early trading as investors await government borrowing and retail sales figures due out later today.

Hedge fund Paulson & Co has been forced on the defensive over the firm's role in the Goldman Sachs fraud dispute.

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted unanimously to hold fire on any changes to interest rates this month, but some members are growing increasingly concerned about inflation.

HSBC Global Asset Management plans to add two new trackers to its growing range of passive funds.

Barings' SooHai Lim believes ongoing political unrest in Thailand could create attractive opportunities for investors.

Barings' Colin Harte believes fixed income investors favouring corporate debt over gilts have become too concerned about the fragility of the UK's AAA rating.

Aberdeen's multi-manager team believes equity markets are due a slow down in the short term after strong rebounds in recent weeks.

Goldman Sachs was today accused of fraud by a US financial watchdog over the make-up and marketing of a debt product tied to sub-prime mortgages.