55 per cent of the UK’s biggest insurance companies are foreign owned, according to a recent report from TheCityUK, UK Trade & Investment and IMAS Corporate Finance.
The report found that, while private ownership is the most common form of control for the general insurance sector, bigger companies (worth more than £100 million) are predominately foriegn owned.
The report also revealed the US as the dominant ownership territory.
The main ownership findings were:
Of the 356 ‘small’ companies (valued at less that £25 million) 88 per cent were owned in the UK.
Of the 115 ‘medium’ companies (valued at between £25 and £100 million) 74 per cent were UK owned.
Of the 143 ‘large’ companies (valued at more than £100 million) only 45 per cent are UK owned.
According to the report ‘UK Financial Services Industry Annual Review Ownership, Value and M&A Developments’ which looked at ownership of organisations all over the financial services sector, insurance makes up of a fifth of the whole financial services industry.
Chris Cummings, Chief Executive of TheCityUK said, “This report shows that the UK is tremendously successful in attracting significant levels of overseas investment into our financial services sector.
“Combined with domestic ownership, this has created an industry that accounts for nearly 9% of the UK’s total economic output.
“Therefore it’s vitally important, both to our financial services sector and the wider economy, that the UK continues to be open and attractive to inward investment.”
