Here's exactly who owns the UK's stock markets
The Office for National Statistics just released its bi-annual estimate of who exactly owns the shares in UK-listed and incorporated companies.
Foreign investors own the lion's share of £1.7 trillion ($2.6 trillion) worth of stock, according to the ONS, accounting for an estimated 54% of shares.
Individual, or retail, investors meanwhile own just 12% of shares. Still, that's up from a historic low of just 10% in 2010 and 2012.
Here's the full breakdown of who owns UK stock markets:
Foreign ownership of UK shares has soared since the early 1990s from less that 20% to its current level.
Meanwhile, ordinary people putting their money directly into the stock market and owning shares has been falling since the 1960s.
The biggest foreign investors in UK shares are Americans. They account for 46%, or £929 billion ($1.4 trillion), of the 54% of foreign owned shares.
Pension funds are often talked about as big stock owners - when the FTSE goes up or down it's supposed to be good or bad for our pensions - but it turns out they only own around 3% of UK stock. That's a historic low.
Pension funds have been reducing their stock holdings since the early 1990s, coming down from a high of 32% ownership. The ONS says there's some evidence to suggest they've been switching to less volatile gilts in recent years.
Similarly, insurance companies have been rapidly reducing their stock holdings since the late 1990s.
Insurance companies have gone from a high of owning 24% of UK stock markets to just 6% in 2014.
- Tesla tells some laid-off employees their separation agreements are canceled and new ones are on the way
- Taylor Swift's 'The Tortured Poets Department' is the messiest, horniest, and funniest album she's ever made
- One of the world's only 5-star airlines seems to be considering asking business-class passengers to bring their own cutlery
- UP board exam results announced, CM Adityanath congratulates successful candidates
- RCB player Dinesh Karthik declares that he is 100 per cent ready to play T20I World Cup
- 9 Foods that can help you add more protein to your diet
- The Future of Gaming Technology
- Stock markets stage strong rebound after 4 days of slump; Sensex rallies 599 pts