Foreign Institutional Investors Already Own Half Of The Capital Of Spanish Listed Companies

Madrid Stock Exchange revision

Fernando Rodriguez | Foreign institutional investors hold 50,2% of the total capital of listed companies on the Spanish Continuous Market, up 12 percentage points in the last 10 years according to the conclusion of the report: Preparing for the 2021 Shareholder Meeting Season, drawn by the law firm Cuatrecasas and the proxy solicitor Georgeson, an annual report now in its tenth year.

In a chapter dedicated to key milestones in the Spanish stock market in the last decade, the report points out that the increase in foreign institutional investment“has happened at the expense of that made by Spanish families, owners of 16.1% of the investment in the stock market last year.”

The number of listed companies on the main market gradually dropped form 164 to 141 in the period under review, although total capitalization – excluding Latibex, BME Growth and ETFs – increased from 470,998 million euros to 666,943 million euros according to the same source.

This means that the average market capitalization of listed companies in this period increased by 65%, from 2,871 millions to 4,730 million euros. The increase in market capitalization has been particularly relevant in the case of energy, textile and construction companies. Whereas the companies in the financial sector -banks, insurance companies and holding companies- accounted for 30% of market capitalization in 2010, and for 22% in 2019.

About the Author

Fernando Rodríguez
Fernando Rodriguez is in charge of PR and Development at The Corner. He has worked for over 30 years for financial publications like Expansion, El Economista, Dossier Empresarial, Ciudadano and Afa Press-Worldfolio and has been a contributor to El Pais-Negocios, Emprendedores, Época, Sector Ejecutivo and Consejeros. Fernando holds a degree in Journalism from CEU-San Pablo (Complutense University) and a master’s degree in Strategic Communication from CESMA business school. As a communication consultant, he has developed PR projects for firms like Grupo Bancaja, JP Morgan, GBS, Corpfin, QBE, Howden, Asociación Española de Leasing y Renting (AELR) or Asociación Española de Accionistas Minoritarios de Empresas Cotizadas (AEMEC).