Insurers’ assets in UK stock market dwindles
BRITISH insurers managing £1.8 trillion of assets have slashed investment in the UK stock market by more than half over 10 years, continuing a trend of diversification and allocating more cash overseas in search of higher yield, a report showed.
According to data published by the Association of British Insurers (ABI), allocations to UK equities, once a core asset class, stood at 11 per cent in 2012, having declined steadily from 24 per cent in 2002.
This leaves UK insurers’ home stock market among the smallest components of their investment portfolios with the proportion put in overseas stocks having risen from 10 per cent to 17 per cent over a decade.
The ABI report also said the insurance industry collected £311bn in premium income last year, making it the third largest in the world after the United States.