THE BIG THREAT

The annual management charge on Anthony Bolton's Fidelity China Special Situations investment trust will be cut from 1.5% to 1.2% from 1 April 2013.

Richard Buxton, the head of UK equities at Schroders, has resigned after more than 11 years at the fund manager to take up a position at Old Mutual.

Central banks are pursuing domestic priorities and are not engaged in competitive devaluation, a senior Swiss economist told delegates at the recent FX Invest conference.

Alliance Trust has reported its strongest yearly start for 20 years as markets soared at the start of 2013, but said the equity rally is unlikely to continue at the current pace.

The Euro Group's new president has warned the UK could be facing a "new sterling crisis" as concerns grow over the state of public finances.

The Federal Reserve has said US banks have enough capital to survive a severe economic downturn, as 17 out of 18 major institutions passed its annual stress tests.

John Taylor, founder of the $3bn FX Concepts fund, has predicted the pound will rally from here against the euro after its recent fall, as attention returns to the eurozone.

Warren Buffett has described last year's performance for his Berkshire Hathaway group as "subpar", despite a 45% rise in profits over the period.

Shares in banking giant HSBC fell 2% in early trading today as it reported profit before tax was $20.6bn(£14bn) in 2012, down 6% on 2011.