UK

Castlestone is to wind up its listed funds business, consisting of four portfolios, three of which were suspended earlier this year.

The FTSE 100 climbed this morning and Asian and US markets rallied strongly overnight as the Federal Reserve announced it would hold interest rates at close to zero until 2013.

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Banks added to market woes last week with the UK's major players reporting a raft of losses prompted by PPI claims and the European debt crisis.

The Trojan Income fund's Francis Brooke says UK investors should shun volatility for the best returns.

Old Mutual saw profits climb in the first half, driven by cost cutting measures and the performance of its South African banking arm Nedbank, while Skandia saw its profits fall by nearly a third.

Premier's Simon King says UK firms need to look beyond the UK to prosper.

AXA Wealth's net new business rose 18% to £1.1bn for the first half of 2011, with the group benefitting from last year's strategic review which lead to a focus on this part of the business.

Schroders saw pre-tax profits jump in the first half of the year, although net flows into its retail funds fell sharply over the period.

River & Mercantile's Hugh Sergeant said negative investor sentiment is pushing up equity risk premiums to credit crunch levels despite strong balance sheets among UK companies.