A large proportion of funds in the IMA UK Smaller Companies sector have failed to produce alpha over the long term, amid a strong rally in small-cap stocks.

It is harder for equity managers to invest now than in the run up to the financial crisis, according to Bruce Stout, manager of the £1.3bn Murray International trust.

Aviva Investors is winding down its £79m Property Investment fund as assets have shrunk to a point where "it is no longer optimal" to run.

Walker Crips Group is continuing to pursue its growth agenda after a successful last quarter of 2013, with assets under management jumping by 33% over the year.

Multi-asset managers have been hiking their cash weightings after a rocky start to the year for global equity markets.

Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management has become the latest ETF provider to enter the price war raging across the sector, creating a range of low cost db X-trackers with an all-in annual fee of 9bps.

Japanese equity markets have seen double-digit falls since the start of the year as investors panic over global growth and problems in emerging markets, but which funds have suffered the most?

Schroders is winding up its UK Core fund, Investment Week can reveal, calling time on its first offering in the 'low-cost active' space after failing to gather assets in the three years since launch.

New data has shown equity funds have been impacted to a far greater extent than bond funds in terms of price following the move to unbundle product fees.

Neptune's Chris Taylor has predicted ten-fold growth in the Japanese market in the coming years, as the government is forced to push through reforms to avoid bankruptcy by 2020.