As the United Kingdom finally left the EU on 31 January 2020, there is now a transition period until the end of the year, while the UK and EU negotiate additional arrangements.  The current rules on trade, travel, and business for the UK and EU will continue to apply during the transition period.

Globally, all attention has been on China where the coronavirus has now spread to 27 countries and territories worldwide, with 17,488 confirmed cases and 362 deaths (as of 3 February 2020).

The FTSE 100 ended January at 7,286.01 which was 3.4% lower than December’s closing figure.

In the US, the Dow Jones 30 was 1.0% lower ending January at 28,251.47.

In terms of currency, £ Sterling ended January at 1.32 US Dollars.  This was 0.5% lower than the figure at the end of December.

Against the Euro, £ Sterling ended January at 1.19 Euros, which was 0.5% higher than the December closing figure.

Inflation, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH), was 1.4% in December 2019 (this is December’s data which is reported in January).  This was 0.1% lower than the previous month.  The 12-month rate for the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rate which excludes owner occupied housing costs and council tax was 1.3% in December, down from 1.5% in November.

The Bank of England maintained interest rates at 0.75% in January.  The last change was an increase in August 2018.  This means long-suffering deposit savers are likely to continue to lose money in real terms when you consider the rate of savings interest compared to the rate of inflation. 

The Omnis Managed funds, Openwork Graphene Model Portfolios and Omnis Managed Portfolio Service provide you with a diversified asset allocation in line with your Attitude to Risk, investing in Developed Market Equities, such as UK, US, Europe and Asia Pacific as well as Emerging Market equities.  Cautious and Balanced investors will also have significant holdings in UK and Global Bonds, as well as Alternative Strategies.

We believe this multi-asset approach aims to give you the best opportunity for the highest level of return for your stated level of risk.

Past performance is not a guide to future performance. 
The value of an investment and any income from it can fall as well as rise as a result of market and currency fluctuations. 
You may not get back the amount you originally invested.