Aviva

Aviva Investors has confirmed its long-standing plans to bring the group's £1.3bn multi-manager mandates in-house.

Punch Taverns' bondholders are seeking to halt the ailing firm from selling pubs in its estate and instead arrange a debt for equity swap.

Henderson's Trevor Green has joined Aviva Investors' UK equity desk, replacing Mervyn Douglas.

Aviva has boosted its UK profits by 21%, led by higher sales in the life and pensions business.

Aviva Investors, the insurer's global asset management business, has been granted permission to offer fund running services to the Singaporean market.

Aviva Investors has received shareholder approval to merge the assets of the International Property fund, formerly Henderson International Property, into the Aviva Investors European Property and the Asia Pacific Property funds.

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