Bonds

BlackRock has changed the name and investment objective of its Global Bond fund, managed by Scott Thiel, who will also gain two co-managers.

Russia's credit rating has been cut to junk status by ratings agency Standard & Poor's for the first time in a decade.

Central banks are still working to reflate asset prices while investors chase yield. This means ABS are prime candidates for top performance this year, says Jim Caron, portfolio manager at Morgan Stanley Investment Management.

Distribution Technology (DT), a provider of risk profiling tools to hundreds of adviser firms, has introduced high yield bonds to eight of its ten risk models for the first time.

Partnership Assurance Group, the enhanced annuity specialist, has scrapped plans to issue bonds despite "significant interest" from investors.

Asian equities sold off overnight and investors rushed for safe havens as markets continued to react to a shock move by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) yesterday to remove the Swiss franc's peg to the euro.

Smith & Williamson's John Anderson has been snapping up Tesco bonds as they offer "the most outstanding value he has seen for some time".

Bill Gross has revealed for the first time that his departure from PIMCO last year was not voluntary.

Threadneedle is planning to launch an OEIC version of Jim Cielinski's $315m Global Opportunities Bond fund later this year, in response to demand from clients.

Former PIMCO manager Bill Gross believes the 'good times are over' for markets and has told investors they should be content with low returns this year.