UK equities

Barclays helped boost the FTSE 100 today after chairman John McFarlane announced increased profits and a strict cost-cutting exercise in the interim company's results.

BlackRock has reduced the ongoing charges figure (OCF) on five of its most popular index funds with nearly £16bn in assets under management.

BlackRock's Richard Plackett, former head of the UK Small and Mid Cap equities team and co-manager of the £1.4bn UK Special Situations fund, is to retire from fund management after 25 years, Investment Week can reveal.

Equity income strategies are set to remain in favour but dividend growth rather than headline yield is becoming increasingly important, according to Henderson High Income's David Smith.

Strong performance from financials bumped up UK payouts to a second quarter record of £29.2bn this year, according to the latest Capita Dividend Monitor.

Jupiter is to merge its Jupiter Undervalued Assets fund into the Jupiter UK Growth fund from 3 July.

The unresolved Greek debt crisis has put renewed pressure on the FTSE 100 this morning, negating the effects of the rally in supermarkets stocks on back of Tesco's Q1 results.

Sanditon Asset Management co-founder Tim Russell has established "nerve-wracking" short positions in popular UK growth stocks as he bids to profit from a potential change in the business cycle.

Anthony Bolton has urged investors to be "steely" and hold on to their nerve particularly during volatile times, as he talked about his tenure as fund manager of the UK's largest unit trust.

Thesis Asset Management has launched a UK equity-only model portfolio that invests in direct securities rather than funds.