FTSE 100

Shell and HSBC are favourite ideas in £2.7bn Investec fund as gains lag wider market.

Hargreaves Lansdown has begun the process of telling groups if their tenders for inclusion in its ‘core' Wealth list have been successful, and is understood to have secured prices of around 50bps for equity funds and less for fixed income funds.

BP and Royal Dutch Shell produced mixed results last week, but top managers are returning to the beaten-up oil majors, predicting a focus on shareholder returns instead of "growth at any cost".

Half the companies in the FTSE 100 could be affected by new rules designed to protect minority investors.

Royal Bank of Scotland today reported a loss of £634m before tax in the third quarter, undershooting estimates by some way, while it also announced plans to create an 'internal' bad bank to run down its book of bad loans.

Shares in oil giant BP shot higher this morning, lifting the wider market, after the group pleased investors by raising its dividend.

Some of the largest multi-asset funds in the UK retail space have seen performance slump in recent months after they struggled to navigate a difficult summer.

The Chancellor George Osborne is expected to step back from plans to break-up the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) amid an expected outcry from some shareholders.

The FTSE 100 opened above 6,700 on Friday as a pick-up in Chinese manufacturing data boosted mining stocks.

Shares in Aberdeen Asset Management have jumped more than 5% in afternoon trading, after the group confirmed it is in talks to acquire Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP).