Fears we are facing a period of prolonged inflation are "unfounded", said Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Adam Posen, speaking on a day when UK inflation dropped sharply.

Neptune's Felix Wintle has been adding to national and regional banks in his £464m US Opportunities fund, cutting technology and energy stocks after a strong run.

NINE WORST ASSET BUBBLES

S&P's latest raft of downgrades were largely priced into markets, but more worrying is its forecast of a high chance of a deep recession in the region, said Schroders' European economist Azad Zangana.

Lazard Asset Management has launched a low volatility, quant-based equity fund.

The chief executive of Invista Real Estate Investment Management and three of his team have joined Schroders' property funds arm.

10 FACTS ABOUT FATCA

The pound has fallen to a three-month low against the dollar ahead of a Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee meeting today, the first of 2012.

A likely hard landing in China will bring the financial crisis of the past five years to a climax in 2012, a leading City strategist has warned.

Swiss National Bank chairman Philipp Hildebrand will receive a CHF900,000 (£615,000) payoff as he leaves the central bank following a scandal over his wife's currency trades.