Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has agreed to buy Heinz for $23bn, a 20% premium to yesterday's closing share price.

Investors have been trading equities en masse according to the latest data from BlackRock, with 94% of a record $262.7bn of flows accounted for by the asset class last month.

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has said inflation may remain above the 2% target for the next two years, in part due to sterling weakness.

Thousands of advisers have yet to obtain their mandatory statement of professional standing (SPS), according to figures from accredited bodies.

The UK's main inflation rate has remained at 2.7% for the third month in a row, broadly in line with economists' expectations, despite steep rises in energy bills.

Music and DVD chain HMV is to call in administrators Deloitte today as the 250-strong chain becomes the latest casualty on the high street.

Two executives at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) are reportedly under pressure to step down as US and UK regulators are concerned about the culture of the investment banking division at the bank.

Henderson's European equity managers Bill Stormont and Paul Casson have both left the firm, along with smaller companies manager Simon Savill.

Minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting suggesting its quantitative easing programme could end sooner than expected have hit equity markets overnight.

WEALTH MANAGERS