WIREDGOV

Key Points

• Total net investment by insurance companies, pension funds and trusts is estimated at £23 billion in the third quarter of 2014, higher than the five-year quarterly average for this series (£14 billion) and higher than net investment in the previous quarter (£11 billion).
• Net investment in British government securities (gilts) in Q3 2014 is estimated at £8 billion. This is the eighth successive quarter of net investment in gilts, indicating that some businesses (particularly pension funds) are continuing to avoid the relative volatility of equity markets.
• In Q3 2014, net investment of £3 billion in overseas securities contrasted with net disinvestment of £2 billion in UK corporate securities. This continuing trend may indicate that businesses have more confidence in their ability to make money from overseas securities than they do from UK corporate securities.
• This release reports on these institutions’ balance sheets at the end of 2013. Total assets were valued at £3,473 billion compared with £3,284 billion at the end of 2012, an increase of 6%.
• In 2013, net investment in short-term assets of £25 billion was the highest recorded estimate since 2007 (£41 billion).

Get all the tables for this publication in the data section of this publication.