London’s stock market is facing a barrage of criticism, with global investors likening it to a “global backwater” struggling to attract and retain growth companies that excite investors and are building the 21st-century economy.
However, after a surge of stock flotations in 2021, including cutting-edge firms such as Oxford Nanopore, and new listing rules, London’s status as a global financial centre could brighten in 2022.
Currently, the FTSE 100 index of blue-chip companies looks dated. Technology only makes up about 2% of the London market, compared with 20% across global markets.
“That means London is tenfold underweight in the part of the economy growing faster, and which is attracting high valuations,” says Simon French, the chief economist of Panmure Gordon.
“If you’re an investor looking to invest in growth, you haven’t got a lot of options on the UK public market, with the greatest respect to Sage and Micro Focus.”
Paul Marshall, the boss of the £40m ($55bn) hedge fund Marshall Wace, wrote in the Financial Times that the City of London risked becoming “a…
