Institutional Investment
What are the figures used for?
The financial surveys to insurance companies, self-administered pension funds and trusts collect information on their investment in financial instruments, end-year holdings and income and expenditure.
Figures from these surveys are used in calculating gross domestic product, and in producing the National Accounts and the Balance of Payments. Gross domestic product is a key indicator of the state of the economy while the national accounts dataset is widely used by the Treasury and Bank of England to formulate economic policy.
External users take the data to measure the performance of these sectors and to analyse how key investor groups are investing their funds.
The purpose of the quarterly transactions surveys is to provide information on where the companies and funds are investing their assets: are they buying or selling shares, are they taking up fixed interest securities, or are they moving into shorter-term assets which can be realised more quickly.
The income and expenditure surveys to insurance companies and pension funds measure their sources of income and expenditure. For example, is any increase in insurance company income from rises in premiums for products such as motor insurance, is any change in their expenditure a result of changes in claims paid or their administrative costs.
The annual balance sheet surveys record the value of their holdings of investments at the end of the year. It shows where their assets are invested: are they heavily susceptible to changes in the stock market; do they mostly hold fixed interest securities; are they holders of property portfolios.
The inquiry forms are sent to samples of businesses and funds selected from registers of businesses created from a combination of regulatory and trade association sources. The pension fund surveys are sent to a selection of the self-administered pension funds of private sector companies, local authorities and public corporations.
The information collected on pension contributions was reviewed during 2002, in a Review of Pension Contributions Statistics involving various government departments and external experts. It included a series of recommendations whose actioning would improve the information available. The action plan from the review was published on 29th November 2002.
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Insurance Companies', Pension Funds' and Trusts' Investments (MQ5)