BlackRock

There has been a 187% increase in the amount of money sitting in underperforming dog funds this year to £26.5bn, Bestinvest's latest "Spot the dog" list has revealed.

BlackRock, the world's largest money manager, has reported its profits fell 11% in the second quarter, as the global downturn in markets cut into fee income.

BlackRock's Andrew Williamson-Jones, manager of the £162m global equity fund, is to leave after nine years at the company.

BlackRock has launched a range of funds investing in a number of index trackers, as it moves to compete with the rise in demand for low-cost funds ahead of RDR.

COMMODITIES

ON EUROPE

A number of fund providers are supporting the split of the Absolute Return sector into sub-categories based on strategy, which could see many vehicles in the Unclassified and Specialist sectors moved into the new groupings.

F&C Investments has scrapped plans to launch a US investment trust after it failed to reach its £100m fundraising target.

CIO Plamen Monovski tells Katie Holliday about his firm's ‘Indiana Jones' approach to investing and his ambitious plans to grow the business.

Sam Vecht, head of BlackRock's emerging Europe equity team, has upped his weighting to Russia by 15% in recent months, on the view the country's equity market could significantly re-rate.