S&P

Aviva Investors has launched the first in a new range of structured products, created in response to demand from financial advisers for funds that can deliver attractive returns in a low interest rate environment.

Update 4pm: Heavy losses in the battered US markets have spread to the UK and sent the index of 100 leading shares down 3.3%.

The historic downgrade of US debt capped a momentous week which saw global markets go into free-fall.

Fitch Ratings, the US fund rating service, is to launch a fund rating service covering UK funds as part of a new offering aimed at IFAs and wealth managers.

Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's has downgraded the US' prized AAA-rating for the first time ever.

"Not all ETFs are created equal. A worrying and common misconception in the market is the expectation that ETF's are a homogonous product set without looking into the assets backing the portfolio or the quality of the third parties involved in managing...

The situation in Greece, and the rest of the European Union, puts a question mark over ETFs with significant European bank stock holdings.

Among the top year-to-date ETF performers, there is a heavy concentration in health care, according to the latest figures from Standard & Poor's (S&P).

S&P Indices has launched the S&P Dynamic Asset Exchange Indices, designed as a dynamic asset allocation strategy by replicating the option pricing formula developed by William Margrabe.

Greece's credit rating has been cut to the lowest level of any nation in the world after Standard & Poor's warned that the danger of a default by the country has risen significantly.