Bonds

Exposure to financials has been the key performance driver for Kevin Doran's IFDS Brown Shipley Sterling Bond fund, which has gained the top spot in the IMA £ Corporate Bond sector this year.

Top fund managers have expressed anger over Co-operative Bank's £1.5bn rescue plan and warned its risk a full-scale investor rebellion if it fails to deal with its bondholders.

M&G is to launch a Global Corporate Bond fund for Ben Lord next week, Investment Week understands.

The rise in bond yields during May and June has left few parts of the bond market unscathed, and UK bonds were very much part of this move.

Fidelity Worldwide Investments has launched an income version of Ian Spreadbury's reduced duration bond fund.

The tapering of bond purchases in the US will not lead to interest rate rises, and could in fact prolong record low rates, M&G's Richard Woolnough has said.

BOND SELL-OFF

Ignis Asset Management is preparing to expand its product range as it reports profits for the first half of the year were unchanged from H1 2012.

The increasing likelihood of former US treasury secretary Larry Summers becoming Fed chairman next year has prompted a further spike in bond yields, analysts suggest.

Tapering panic has driven a major sell-off in government bond markets over the last month, but bond investors suggest there is scope for yields to go even higher from here.