S&P Capital IQ is to explore strategic alternatives for its fund research business following an internal review.

With true alpha proving ever harder to come by, it is no surprise that articles highlighting some of the top performers of recent years proved among the most popular of this week's stories.

Funds including the Absolute Insight fund of funds and GAM's US equity offering are among those to have made the latest Bestinvest Premier Selection guide.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is writing to 11 fund groups this week as part of a thematic review into fund charges.

The European mutual fund industry shrunk by 1.3% in the second quarter, with a net decrease of more than 400 funds, as the number of mergers and closures began to accelerate again.

Central bankers are backing themselves into a corner in their attempts to fine-tune unorthodox monetary policies, according to Troy Asset Management's Sebastian Lyon.

The arrival of the RDR and the decision to stem flows into Richard Woolnough's corporate bond funds saw M&G's UK retail business suffer outflows in H1 2013.

Fixed income managers have cautioned the Bank of England (BoE) will be forced to backtrack on its forward guidance measures as it has been too pessimistic over the state of the UK economy.

Japan Q2 GDP has come in well short of expectations as annualised growth of just 2.6% deals a blow to 'Abenomics' advocates.

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney is an advocate of the virtues of communication, but he may have already backed himself into a corner in his attempt to set out a clear policy path.