UK

LGIM's Richard Hodges believes the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) would be "lunatics" to raise interest rates in May as it will put the UK at risk of a double-dip recession.

Richard Howarth is poised to increase the gross exposure of the Absolute Insight UK Equity Market Neutral fund following a drop in volatility across markets.

Anthony Cross and co-manager Julian Fosh, running the £53m Liontrust Special Situations fund, have returned more than three times the IMA UK All Companies sector average over the past three years.

The Budget is usually a little like Christmas - there is a long wait, you get a few clues about what is going to happen, and then when the day finally arrives it is a bit of a let-down.

BUDGET BLOG

Much of the commentary on the UK economy has been looking at the public sector squeeze, which has not yet started according to the numbers. It has ignored the private sector squeeze, which is long and deep.

UK retail sales slipped 0.8% in February compared to the previous month, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Fund managers believe the revised growth forecast for the UK this year, as revealed in George Osborne's Budget, is still too optimistic and may not be an achievable target.

Estates will benefit from a 10% discount in inheritance tax (IHT) if they leave part of the money to charity, George Osborne said today in the Budget speech.

It took George Osborne a little under one hour to deliver his second package of measures as Chancellor today.