J.P. Morgan Asset Management has appointed North Investment Partners' Nicholas Roberts as portfolio manager for the JPM Fusion Funds, reporting to lead manager Tony Lanning.

Former Skandia marketing head Nick Dixon is to join Aegon UK as investment director, Investment Week understands.

F&C Asset Management has reported pre-tax profits of £37.3m for the half year ending 30 June 2013, citing buoyant equity markets and cost-cutting measures introduced by activist shareholder Edward Bramson.

Family office Fleming Family & Partners has provided seed capital for the launch of the Investec Africa Fixed Income Opportunities fund.

Jon Ingram, manager of the £139m JPM UK Dynamic fund, picks five sectors he expects will continue to perform well during the equity rally, and selects his favourite stocks from each.

Just 2.05% of funds achieved top quartile returns over the three years to Q2 2013, down from 4.56% from Q1, according to new research.

Emerging markets have had a torrid summer, as the threat of a slowdown in China and the possibility of QE tapering in the US weighed heavy on investor sentiment.

UK GDP rose by 0.6% in the second quarter, according to initial estimates - in line with analysts' expectations and double the 0.3% figure seen in Q1.

China has unveiled new measures to boost its struggling economy in a fresh sign the ruling party is concerned about a slowdown.

Facebook shares rose by as much as 20% overnight on news the firm beat analyst expectations on profits and earnings.