Foreign owners peak

THE proportion of UK company shares owned by foreign investors has reached a record high.

Some 53.9pc of shares were held overseas at the end of last year – a rise on the previous high of 53.7pc recorded in 2014.

The figures, from the Office for national Statistics, put the value of UK domiciled company shares at £2.04trillion, making the foreign-owned shares worth around £1.09trillion.

They reflect the steady rise in foreign investment, which saw the proportion of UK shares owned by the rest of the world pass 25pc by 1997 and 50pc by 2012.