What leaving the EU means for your money

We’ve finally left the European Union. It may seem like nothing has changed, but investors need to look at what it means for their portfolio right now, says John Stepek

This article was first published in MoneyWeek magazine issue no 984 on 31 January 2020. to make sure you don't miss out in future, sign up to MoneyWeek here and get your first six issues free.

So that’s it. It’s only taken one referendum, two general elections and three prime ministers to get here. But Britain is finally leaving the European Union (EU). What happens now? The immediate answer is: nothing. The “Withdrawal Agreement” comes into force, which effectively keeps everything as it is, but sets the stage for 11 months of talks to decide on a future deal governing trade and the wider UK-EU relationship by the end of the year. Elsewhere, Helen Thomas of Blonde Money looks at how those talks are likely to unfold. Here I want to look at the implications for investors.

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John Stepek

John Stepek is a senior reporter at Bloomberg News and a former editor of MoneyWeek magazine. He graduated from Strathclyde University with a degree in psychology in 1996 and has always been fascinated by the gap between the way the market works in theory and the way it works in practice, and by how our deep-rooted instincts work against our best interests as investors.

He started out in journalism by writing articles about the specific business challenges facing family firms. In 2003, he took a job on the finance desk of Teletext, where he spent two years covering the markets and breaking financial news.

His work has been published in Families in Business, Shares magazine, Spear's Magazine, The Sunday Times, and The Spectator among others. He has also appeared as an expert commentator on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, BBC Radio Scotland, Newsnight, Daily Politics and Bloomberg. His first book, on contrarian investing, The Sceptical Investor, was released in March 2019. You can follow John on Twitter at @john_stepek.