UK

BOUTIQUE FOCUS

Over the past two decades the FTSE All Share has beaten the majority of funds in the IMA UK All Companies sector, adding weight to the view the funds industry is in dire need of consolidation ahead of RDR.

Gary Hutcheson, managing director of Ignis Real Estate, reveals where the best value lies in this income-driven asset class.

M&A

Standard & Poor's (S&P) has reaffirmed its AAA credit rating for the UK and forecasts the government's net debt burden will peak next year.

Among Investment Week's best read news stories last week were the discovery of a new acroynm; George Osborne's shock over tax dodging revelations; and a list of the funds that would have served you well in the first quarter.

Worse than expected UK trade deficit data for February suggests net trade will have been a drag on GDP growth in the first quarter, according to Capital Economics.

ON UK GROWTH

REGULATION

Economists have suggested scrapping bank holidays in the UK in order to boost the country's sturggling economy by as much as £19bn a year.