Global equity markets continued to slide last month declining 0.58%, according to Standard & Poor's The World by Numbers monthly report.

J.P. Morgan, F&C, Henderson New Star and St James's Place are among the fund management groups expecting to cut dividends on their UK equity income funds by up to 25% in the coming year.

The FTSE 100 slipped in early trading on Wednesday after a rocky day on Wall Street saw the Dow Jones shed triple-digit losses.

Friends Provident completed the demerger of F&C Asset Management today (Friday 3 July) with its controlling stake in the firm distributed to all Friends' shareholders.

Aegon is launching a UK Equity Income fund on 30 June for managers Iain Wells and Douglas Scott.