ITALY - Scottish Widows Investment Partnership says it has registered its mutual fund range for sale in Italy.

"The Bank of Italy has approved SWIP's suite of funds to be marketed to Italian investors," the group said in a statement.

"SWIP is marketing its fund range to Italy's largest fund providers and will work with its partner, Bank Finnat, to target clients in the segregated market.

"The Italian mutual fund market is one of biggest in Europe and Scottish Widows Investment Partnership has an excellent reputation as an international investment house," said Chris Walker, head of institutional. "Registering these funds will broaden our offering to Italian investors."

SWIP added it was also looking at emerging markets.

"Demographic research shows that the four biggest emerging markets - Brazil, Russia, India and China - will surpass the G6 countries' GDP by 2040, it is currently less than 15%. This offers a lot of opportunity for investors looking for capital growth."