A French hedge fund manager whose company lost as much as $1.4bn of clients' money in Bernard Madoff's corrupt investment firm was found dead in his Manhattan office yesterday, reports The Telegraph .

Clients will be intensifying their search for income in 2009 with investment grade bonds proving particularly attractive, according to Justin Oliver, co-manager of the Collins Stewart multi-manager funds.

Net retail sales have seen their best month since May 2007 with total sales of £1,037m during November, according to the latest figures from the IMA.

Two sole trader mortgage brokers have been banned by the FSA after they were found guilty of misleading the regulator.

Ignis Asset Management's head of fixed income Joe McKenna has left the firm as the group announces a number of high-profile departures.

Whittard of Chelsea, the 122-year-old coffee and tea specialist, is understood to be on the brink of administration - putting up to 500 jobs at risk, The Independent can exclusively reveal.

Early gains for a handful of financial stocks has driven the FTSE 100 higher in early trading this morning - up 28.5 points, or 0.67% to 4,277.66.

SIPP contribution levels are likely to fall in early 2009 as concern over the state of the economy mounts, according to European Pensions Management (EPM).

Freedom SIPP has closed to new business due to administrative deficiencies identified by the FSA.

Norwich Union (NU) will use the faces of Dame Edna Everage and Alice Cooper as part of an advertising campaign to let consumers know it is changing its brand to Aviva.