A thoroughly disappointing start to the New Year with a fall in Athelney’s unaudited NAV of 1.9 per cent. This at a time during when the MCSI All World Index was rising by 5.5 per cent and the talk was all about a melt-up, the only exception in major markets being London. Could this be due to the strength of the British pound?

Although it rose by 5.8 per cent against the dollar at one stage, the pound only increased by 1 per cent against the euro and 1.8 per cent against a basket of its trading partners. British equities look relatively cheap by international standards (particularly America, Japan, the eurozone and Australia) but fund managers are put off by the likelihood that Britain will leave the single market and customs union with consequences for future economic growth.

However, poor Neil Woodford (I never thought that I would write those words) believes that the UK will avoid a further economic slowdown and that there is value in domestically focussed shares.