UK

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.

F&C Asset Management saw net flows into its products turn positive in the first six months of the year, but faced a £10m payout for a lost legal dispute with the founders of its fund of hedge funds arm.

Barclays saw its pre-tax profits fall by a third during the first half of the year, with PPI claims and reduced bond trading activity hitting earnings.

Liontrust is set to acquire the fund management business of Occam, including its emerging markets and Asia teams in a £3.9m deal.

The UK economy will only grow at a "sluggish" rate this year, according to the CBI.