UK

Terry Smith's new Fundsmith asset manager has appointed former SLI investment director Conrad Rey as its sales director to intermediaries.

ASHBY'S ANSWERS

The £377m BlackRock UK Smaller Companies fund is looking to up its weightings at the small- and micro-cap end of the scale as Ralph Cox takes full control of the fund.

Last week showed the contrasting fortunes of two of the most well-known fund management groups in the UK market.

Despite unprecedented cash injections by governments in March 2009, the 12 months to September 2010 have seen increased levels of volatility.

ON UK INCOME

ON UK GROWTH

Resolution says it has "multiple routes" to complete its UK life consolidation project including further scale transactions, a series of smaller bolt-ons or a combination of the two.

Strong inflows into Prudential's asset management arm M&G and its with-profits products helped UK sales rise 3% to £548m for the first nine months of the year compared to the same period in 2009.

M&G recorded a market-leading £1.74bn net retail inflow in the third quarter, 5% more than the equivalent period in 2009.