The Complete Guide to the FTSE All-Share Index

The FTSE All-Share Index is a widely followed stock market index in the UK, comprising the 350 largest and most liquid UK companies. It's a broad representation of the UK stock market.

The index is reviewed quarterly to ensure it remains representative of the market, with companies added or removed as necessary. This helps maintain its relevance and accuracy.

The FTSE All-Share Index is a market-capitalization-weighted index, meaning larger companies have a greater impact on its performance. This is in contrast to other indices that use a price-weighted approach.

The index is widely used by investors and analysts to gauge the overall health of the UK stock market.

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The FTSE All-Share Index is a capitalisation-weighted index that tracks the performance of nearly 600 of the largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange.

These companies are selected based on their market capitalisation, which accounts for a significant portion of the total market capitalisation of companies eligible for inclusion in the UK FTSE series.

The FTSE All-Share Index makes up 98% of the total market capitalisation of the companies eligible for inclusion in the UK FTSE series.

This index is widely used by investors, financial analysts, and policymakers to get a sense of the overall health of the UK economy.

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The FTSE All-Share Index is a comprehensive measure of the UK stock market, covering around 98% of the market capitalisation of the UK market.

It represents the performance of equities of all eligible companies listed on the London Stock Exchange's main market, which pass screening for size and liquidity.

This index covers the combined universes of the FTSE 100, FTSE 250, and FTSE Small Cap Index.

The FTSE All-Share Index is a market capitalisation weighted index, meaning the largest companies have a greater influence on the index's performance.

This breadth of coverage allows investors to gain a well-rounded understanding of overall market performance and the health of the UK economy.

The index serves as a benchmark against which the performance of individual stocks and other indices can be compared.

Here are the key reasons why the FTSE All-Share index is significant for investors:

Investing in the FTSE All-Share index offers a passive investment strategy that tracks the overall UK stock market performance.

Index funds based on the FTSE All-Share index allow investors to gain exposure to the UK stock market with a fairly straightforward investment option.

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The FTSE All-Share Index has seen its fair share of ups and downs over the years. From 2013 to 2023, it delivered an average annual total return of 7.21%.

In 2022, the index had a relatively poor year, returning only 0.34%. However, in 2021, it bounced back with a return of 18.32%. The index has also experienced significant growth in some years, such as 2019, when it returned 19.17%.

Here are the annual returns of the FTSE All-Share Index from 2015 to 2023:

The index's performance is a good indicator of the overall health of the UK stock market.

The FTSE All-Share index is made up of companies from various sectors, including financial services, consumer goods, healthcare, energy, and tech.

These sectors are essentially the collection of companies that make up the FTSE 100, FTSE 250, and FTSE Small Cap indexes. Companies in the FTSE All-Share index must meet specific inclusion criteria.

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To be included, companies must have a market capitalisation, adequate liquidity, and a fair distribution of voting rights. Market capitalisation represents the total market value of a company's outstanding shares.

The companies in the FTSE All-Share index are weighted based on their market capitalisation, with larger market capitalisations having a greater influence on the index's performance. This reflects their relative importance in the UK stock market.

The weighting approach helps to ensure that the index accurately reflects the market's overall sentiment and performance.

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