BoE's QE operation falters as investors refuse to part with bonds

Pension funds and insurance companies - which tend to invest in long-dated UK bonds to match their liabilities - rejected the central bank's attempt to buy £1.2bn of long-dated gilts despite receiving above market level offers. Luke Hickmore, manager of the £1.8bn Aberdeen Corporate Bond fund told Bloomberg: "Lots of people are bidding us for bonds. Mark Carney is now bidding me for bonds and he still cannot have them. He was trying to buy 15-year plus bonds in the gilt market. "That is a really difficult area where people are hunting down what yield is left. You have to extend out in...