The FTSE 100 rose 6.43%, or almost 380 points, in January, making this the strongest start to the year since 1989.
Assets under management in UK funds reached a record £658bn last year, with fixed income yet again the best-selling asset class despite a late surge in interest in equities.
The US economy shrunk in the final quarter of 2012, raising fresh questions about the strength of its economic recovery.
Britain risks seeing its standard of living hit if it leaves the European Union, according to the head of the world's largest bond fund.
A tax agreement between the UK and Switzerland that aims to retrieve tax that should have been paid to the UK has delivered £342m in the first tranche of revenue.
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is to pay up to £250m in bonuses to its investment banking division, including to those implicated in the LIBOR-rigging scandal.