By Hysni Kaso

Standard Life has lifted the queuing system for customers wishing to surrender, transfer or switch money out of the company's UK unit-linked life and pension property funds.

Former Rathbone High Income fund manager Hugh Yarrow will manage Wise Investment's new Evenlode Income vehicle.

Former New Star managing director of UK retail sales Simon Hillenbrand has joined Henderson as the group restructures its distribution team.

Neptune Investment Management has launched another global product for founder and managing director Robin Geffen, the Mature Markets fund.

Cofunds has mounted a defence against growing criticism of its negotiations with fund managers, saying the platform is only seeking to rectify the "imbalanced" terms offered to other propositions in the market.

Royal Bank of Scotland is to consider a £3bn-£4bn share issue to reduce the stake it would hand to the government for joining its toxic assets insurance scheme and has approached its biggest investors about the idea, the FT reports.

Sanjeev Shah's move to add a basket of financial stocks at the height of market fear following the Lehman fall has paid off for his top-decile Fidelity Special Situations fund.

Cofunds marketing and proposition director Alistair Conway has rebuffed Brian Dennehy's suggestions the platform has lost IFA backing, saying its sales volumes show the level of adviser support.

Influential financial adviser Brian Dennehy has hit out at Cofunds in an open letter to its chief executive Brett Williams, saying a significant number of IFAs are concerned over the "frequent confusion" in leadership and direction.