Statistics 12 November 2020 1:00 PM

Half of Finnish companies’ shares under domestic ownership

At the end of September 2020, the market value of shares issued by listed Finnish companies^[1] totalled to EUR 266 million. In terms of value, 18% of the shares were issued by financial sector companies and 82% by non-financial companies. During 2020, the market value of Finnish listed equities has fluctuated steeply. In January 2020, total market capitalisation reached its highest value (EUR 268 billion) since 2000. In February–March 2020, equity prices declined by EUR 61 billion as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the value recovered rapidly. By the end of August 2020, the total equity market capitalisation already surpassed January’s level to stand at EUR 269 billion.

Who owns Finnish equities?

At the end of September 2020, a half (EUR 132 billion) of Finnish listed equities were held by domestic owners^[2]. Among domestic sectors, households are the largest shareholder of Finnish equities. At the end of September 2020, households held 14% of the equities. In January–September 2020, households purchased Finnish equities worth EUR 1.6 billion in net terms. Most of these purchases were made in February–March 2020 when stock prices tumbled. In addition to direct shareholdings, households own Finnish equities indirectly through units in investment funds and unit-linked insurance policies made with insurance companies.

In addition to domestic ownership, listed Finnish shares are also held under foreign ownership. According to a new Bank of Finland publication discussing holdings of Finnish listed securities, in June 2020, the largest foreign holdings were in the United States, Great Britain and Sweden: Shareholders in all these three countries held more than EUR 20 billion worth of listed Finnish shares. At the end of June 2020, US holdings were the largest foreign holdings (EUR 37.5 billion). Holdings in euro area countries (excl. Finland) totalled EUR 33.1 bn.

Finnish deposits and investments (EUR million), 2020Q3
	All		Households		Employment pension schemes
	stock (flows)	change in valuation	stock (flows)	change in valuation	stock (flows)	change in valuation
Finnish investments
Listed shares	192 040	15 931	41 072	3 183	28 644	1 491
	(2 382)		(403)		(261)
- in domestic shares	132 138	13 180	37 278	2 880	15 622	1 086
	(665)		(309)		(-95)
Bonds	215 323	363	1 849	21	29 758	-65
	(5 728)		(-74)		(39)
- in domestic bonds	84 810	381	1 172	14	3 938	43
	(4 104)		(-58)		(31)
Fund shares
Domestic investment funds	98 813	2 811	25 759	873	5 701	128
	(1 049)		(375)		(15)

Foreign funds	144 136	1 784	3 104	125	100 745	843
	(509)		(108)		(124)
Finnish bank deposits
Transaction accounts	179 227	-103	90 046	-9	11 177	-2
	(7 077)		(2 285)		(2 080)
Other deposits	68 428	-4	12 572	0	-*	-*
	(459)		(-101)		-*
*confidential