Lipper

PIMCO, the world's largest bond house, lost its position as the best-selling fund group in Europe in the first half of the year.

The European mutual fund industry shrunk by 1.3% in the second quarter, with a net decrease of more than 400 funds, as the number of mergers and closures began to accelerate again.

Ed Moisson has joined Barings to bolster the firm's research capabilities following his exit from Lipper earlier this month.

Ed Moisson, head of UK & cross-border research at Lipper, is leaving the firm to pursue a new opportunity in the industry.

Neil Woodford's £13.7bn High Income fund is at risk of being expelled from the IMA UK Equity Income sector at the end of 2013 if its historic yield does not improve.

Fund closures and mergers in the UK have soared to a record high in the past six months as groups cull smaller or underperforming funds amid pressure on margins.

Almost half the funds in the IMA Global Equity Income sector have cut dividend payouts over the past year, leading some wealth managers to caution income hunters when allocating to the increasingly popular space.

Last year over 100 unit trusts were either merged or liquidated as fund management houses sought to clean up their product ranges ahead of the Retail Distribution Review.

Annual costs have reduced returns of the average equity fund by 27.9% over a ten-year period, a Lipper report has revealed.

The number of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in Europe will continue to grow, but there are currently 241 European ETFs on a ‘death list' for profitability reasons, according to Lipper.