The Financial Post reports in its Thursday edition that an aggressive campaign of interest rate increases by central banks over almost two years has left asset managers locked in a battle for client inflows against cash deposits and low-cost, low-risk money market funds. A Financial Post of London item inside the FP says that savings rates above 5 per cent on offer in the United States and United Kingdom present a major challenge for fund managers. "We're in a different environment now and many of the assumptions of the last 15 years are being thrown out," Peter Harrison, who heads FTSE 100 asset manager Schroders PLC, said. "Cash and short-term fixed income are more attractive, structured products are coming back and income products are more valuable." The new regime will mean hefty outflows at some fund firms, industry insiders believe. Equity fund managers, already squeezed by years of competition from ultralow-cost index tracker funds, could be among the losers. For fixed-income managers, the picture is less clear: while cash savings rates present a challenge, higher bond yields also offer the chance to earn higher returns. That is welcome news for asset managers with large money market businesses such as JPMorgan.