L&G

Legal & General (L&G) has named group chief financial officer Nigel Wilson as its new chief executive, replacing the outgoing Tim Breedon, who departs from the role next month.

LGIM's European fund manager Gavin Launder has been promoted to head of European equities at the group.

Legal & General (L&G) is anticipating a drop-off in sales through financial advisers over the coming months and into early 2013 as firms concentrate on developing their business models for retail distribution review (RDR) implementation.

THE BIG QUESTION

Poor results from companies such as Unilever, AstraZeneca and Shell last week showed the valuation gap between defensives and cyclicals is closing in a "vicious" fashion, according to JO Hambro Capital Management's James Lowen.

Legal & General Investments has cut the AMCs on five of its index tracker funds and TERs across 13 products in the range.

With volatility set to dominate again this year, experts predict which sector or geographical region will surprise on the upside.

James Murdoch has been re-elected as chairman of beleaguered media group BSkyb despite calls from fund management groups for his resignation.

Cofunds has denied its backers want out after a report emerged that shareholder L&G has made an offer for the platform.

L&G has made an approach for Cofunds, in which it has a 25% stake, in a deal which could value the supermarket at up to £200m, according to reports.