Barclays

Sovereign wealth fund hit

Standard Life Investments UK manager Thomas Moore has said Barclays can transform itself under the watchful eye of interim chief executive John McFarlane.

Barclays helped boost the FTSE 100 today after chairman John McFarlane announced increased profits and a strict cost-cutting exercise in the interim company's results.

Equity income strategies are set to remain in favour but dividend growth rather than headline yield is becoming increasingly important, according to Henderson High Income's David Smith.

Strong performance from financials bumped up UK payouts to a second quarter record of £29.2bn this year, according to the latest Capita Dividend Monitor.

Barclays is planning to cut over 30,000 jobs in the next two years, after firing chief executive Antony Jenkins earlier this month.

Barclays chief executive Antony Jenkins is to leave the bank as the board of directors calls for a change in leadership with a "new set of skills".

Matt Hudson, manager of the £694m Schroder UK Alpha Income fund, has increased his weighting to banks, despite industry concerns about the threat to dividends from the record level of regulatory fines imposed recently.

Mike Fullalove has joined Barclays Wealth and Investment Management from Alliance Bernstein as its new head of fund products.

Asset allocators are refusing to be swayed by a recent rally in commodity prices, saying the bounce is far from sustainable for a sector which remains "on life support".