Aviva

Skandia has handed Aviva a £8m mandate within its £62m UK Strategic Best Ideas fund.

High yield or ‘junk' bonds have seen a surge of investor interest, pushing prices to the levels seen before the credit crunch.

Commercial property may have regained some of the ground it lost since the Lehman Brothers collapse but it appears investor sentiment is cooling on the asset class.

REAL ESTATE

THE BIG QUESTION

The manager of Aviva's £1.6bn Corporate Bond fund has been reducing risk in the portfolio in the view bond markets will be affected by ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty.

RSA's bid for part of Aviva's general insurance business could still happen but only if the offer is raised by around 10%, according to shareholder Ignis.

Barclays shares are 3% lower in early trading despite posting profits of almost £4bn in the first half.

Aviva recorded a 21% jump in operating profit in the first half of the year, with the insurer declaring 6% dividend increase.

Aviva's Jeremy Charles has joined Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (Swip) as an investment director on the UK equities team.