§ Mr. Steenasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what is the proportion of pension fund assets which have been directly invested in North America in each of the last five years; and what is the percentage increase or decrease over that period;
494W(2) what is the proportion of pension fund assets in the private and public sector funds held overseas in each of the last five years; and what is the percentage increase or decrease over that period.
§ Mr. RidleyInformation on the proportion of pension fund assets which has been directly invested in North America is not collected by the Government statistical service.
The total of private and public sector pension funds' net assets held overseas as a proportion of their total net assets is as follows:
percentage* 1976 5.5 1977 4.3 †l978 5.4 5.2 1979 6.2 1980 8.2 * Identified holdings of overseas assets net of overseas liabilities as percentages of total net assets at market value at 31 December. †Figures for private sector pension funds have been rebased from the end of 1978. Figures for 1978 are given on both the old and the new bases. The percentage increase in the market value of overseas assets held over the period is 311 per cent., after making a rough allowance for the rebasing of private sector pension funds' figures described in footnote †.
Information on transactions in overseas assets is published in table 8.12 of Financial Statistics. Figures up to the third quarter of 1981 were published in the February issue.