All UK listed companies (part 1)
Researchers often want a list of “all UK companies” as a first step in creating a sample set. At this stage first check that we really mean “all UK listed companies” (also known as public or quoted companies).
[For all UK public and private companies there is the FAME database, but research requests for just listed/public companies are more common.]
Now to keep things simple in this part one we shall refine this a little more to:
– all UK listed companies that are currently on the London Stock Exchange (LSE)
This eliminates UK companies that choose to list on foreign exchanges (Manchester United is listed in New York). It is easier to first consider current companies. [current and historical companies we leave for part 2].
The London Stock Exchange website includes a “List of All Companies” spreadsheet in its companies and issuers statistics section. Taking the 30 April 2013 sheet, there may be several further refinements to consider.
- All companies on the London Stock Exchange at 30 April 2013 – No of Companies 2,457
- Only companies with ordinary shares – eliminates those with only Depository Receipts, Fixed Interest and Warrants – No of Companies 2,162
- Remove Investment Trusts – LSE uses the ICB (Industry Classification Benchmark) – remove where Group indicates company is an Investment Trust – Group is 8995, 8985, 8671, 8672, 8674, 8675 (see ICB details below) – No of Companies 1,717
- Restrict to LSE Main Market and not the International Main Market – No of Companies 540
LSE list of all companies (click to expand)
The removal of Investment Trusts is quite common – sometimes research involves other sector specific restrictions and there are a variety of industry/sector codes that can be used. The removal of Depository Receipts and the International Main Market eliminates companies that have a secondary listing on the LSE to make their shares more accessible to UK investors.
The LSE “List of All Companies” spreadsheet is a good way of illustrating the restrictions that might be added to get the “UK listed companies” required for a specific research analysis. However, it is not ideal as it only provides company names. You cannot load a list of companies into a database using their names you need a list of company identifiers (recognised by the database that you wish to use).
Databases use identifiers because companies can change their name over time, and because names can differ slightly between databases.
ICB details for those interested – the detailed ICB structure is available on the ICB structure page – 8995 Nonequity Investment Instuments, 8985 Equity Investment Instruments, 8671 Industrial and Office Real Estate Investment Trusts, 8672 Retail Real Estate Investment Trusts, 8674 Diversified Real Estate Investment Trusts, 8675 Speciality Real Estate Investment Trusts.
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Referencing tips
Business Research Plus 
Real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) allow individuals to invest in large-scale, income-producing real estate. A REIT is a company that owns and typically operates income-producing real estate or related assets. These may include office buildings, shopping malls, apartments, hotels, resorts, self-storage facilities, warehouses, and mortgages or loans. Unlike other real estate companies, a REIT does not develop real estate properties to resell them. Instead, a REIT buys and develops properties primarily to operate them as part of its own investment portfolio.
Thanks for the excellent summary of a Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). The key point is that researchers should be explicit if they are including (Equity) Investment Trusts, which invest in a portfolio of other companies, and REITs, which invest in real estate, when they create and use a list of UK companies. (This is not exclusive to the UK – it is good practice to be clear about which financial companies are included in a list of companies.)
Some types of companies that might initially appear to be investment companies may actually be excluded under the federal securities laws. For example, private investment funds with no more than 100 investors and private investment funds whose investors each have a substantial amount of investment assets are not considered to be investment companies—even though they issue securities and are primarily engaged in the business of investing in securities. This may be because of the private nature of their offerings or the financial means and sophistication of their investors. For additional information on these types of private investment funds, please refer to Hedge Funds in our Fast Answers databank.
Since we are concentrating on companies with their primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), it is the LSE listing rules that determine which investment companies qualify for inclusion.
A BBC News story about foreign mining companies that have chosen to list on the London Stock Exchange – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23152922
“The regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, is now reviewing the rules about who can sell their shares in London – and what safeguards exist to protect investors”
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