Lloyds sells private client funds

Lloyds is expected to raise about £35.4m from the sale

Lloyds Banking Group has announced the sale of some of its private client funds to Rathbone Brothers.

It followed a review which concluded that the portfolios were "no longer core" for the group, Lloyds said.

Lloyds expects the sale to raise about £35.4m, and also said approximately 40 jobs would be lost in Edinburgh by the end of 2011 as a result.

In August, Lloyds, which is 43%-owned by the taxpayer, announced a £4bn loss for the first half of 2009.

About 6,000 customers with a total of £1.27bn of funds under management will transfer to Rathbones.

The group is currently reconsidering its involvement in the Government Asset Protection Scheme - designed to insure its riskiest assets against further losses.

It had initially planned to put £260bn of loans and investments into the scheme, but it now says its loans are doing less badly than previously thought.