When Chancellor George Osborne stood up to deliver last week's Autumn Statement, there was little doubt he felt more bullish than in 2012.

Invesco Perpetual has begun selling down positions in some of the small and mid-cap companies held by Neil Woodford ahead of the manager's departure in April.

Lloyds Banking Group is to sell its remaining 21% stake in St James's Place, netting it a profit of more than £100m.

The US unemployment rate has fallen to a five-year low, increasing the likelihood of a tapering of quantitative easing later this month.

Nicolas Trindade, manager of the AXA Sterling Credit Short Duration Bond fund, has been using in-house resources in a bid to diversify his floating rate note exposure.

UBS Global Asset Management CEO John Fraser is to retire from the group, having headed the asset management business since 2001.

Sonja Laud, manager of the Schroders Global Equity Income fund, is to leave the group by the end of the year.

Argonaut founding partner Barry Norris has bought back into Greece for the first time since 2006 in the belief the country's banking sector is now a compelling opportunity.

Eclectica's Hugh Hendry has said he would buy into online currency Bitcoin if it were feasible to do so within his funds.

Former Schroders head of rates David Scammell has joined Santander as a senior sovereign bond fund manager within its European fixed income team.