Liontrust

ON UK GROWTH

Liontrust Asset Management is to acquire Walker Crips Asset Managers (WCAM) in a £12m deal.

After a four year hiatus, Vladimir Putin won back the Russian presidency last week. Managers debate the consequences of his victory.

Mark Williams, manager of the Liontrust Asian Income fund, is targeting Chinese and Indonesian stocks at launch but expects to hold no stocks in India or Korea.

Natalie Kenway asks River and Mercantile how it has endured one of the worst recessions of our times, emerging with rising revenues and record AUM.

Liontrust is preparing to launch another European absolute return fund for European equity stars James Inglis-Jones and Gary West.

Phil Cliff, former manager of the £1bn Threadneedle European fund, has joined M&G to manage its Pan European Dividend fund.

We ask fund managers for their top stocks or sector picks for 2012.

Liontrust is set to launch an Asian Income fund on 5 March, managed by Mark Williams, who recently joined the group when it acquired emerging market boutique Occam.

Liontrust's Eoghan Flanagan has urged Chinese policymakers to accelerate monetary easing by the end of the year in order to help boost a slowing economy.