RBS chairman Sir Philip Hampton is to leave the bank in order to take up an identical position at GlaxoSmithKline, according to reports.
Neil Woodford is running his largest allocation to overseas stocks since 2013 as he begins management of his new UK equity income fund.
Growth-focused UK equity managers have joined their income peers in backing pharmaceuticals as deals both real and rumoured send shares rocketing.
GlaxoSmithKline, the UK's largest pharmaceutical group, and rival AstraZeneca, saw shares jump sharply - with the latter up 10% - as a series of deals in the sector boosted prices.
Ardevora founder Jeremy Lang has been shorting "in denial" UK companies reliant on emerging markets, while attempting to exploit the domestic recovery.
Vodafone, BP and some less predictable names including a number of UK housebuilders have been tipped to lead the income tables in 2014.