The Witan Investment Trust has appointed boutique firm Heronbridge to manage a £75m UK equity mandate.

Defensive shares including utilities giant Severn Trent weighed on the FTSE 100 during morning trading, keeping a lid on gains following a tough week which has seen shares retreat further on US QE fears.

Former HBOS chief executive James Crosby has been stripped of his knighthood, the UK Cabinet Office has said.

Anti-capitalist protesters campaigning against the G8 summit in London forced some fund groups to instigate protocols which saw fund managers work from home today.

The prospect of a sell-off in both equities and bonds, akin to that seen in 1994, is a "very real concern", according to Ruffer investment directors Hamish Baillie and Steve Russell.

Nikko Asset Management is separating out its chairman and CEO roles, and has appointed ex-Nomura executive Takumi Shibata as director and chairman ahead of a planned IPO.

Henderson Global Investors' head of multi-asset Bill McQuaker has urged investors not to write off gold despite the recent slump in the price of the precious metal.

ING IM International has appointed BlackRock managing director Stan Beckers as chief executive officer following the departure of Gilbert Van Hassel.

ING IM has hired a new head of emerging market debt(EMD) from Aviva Investors.

Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) has launched an emerging market debt fund which will actively allocate across government and corporate debt, and across currencies.