UK pension funds have pulled £4.5bn (€6.6bn) from UK equities in the first six months of this year, with overseas equities, index-linked debt and overseas bonds the main beneficiaries, according to figures from performance measurer WM Company.

Alastair MacDougall, head of research at WM, said less than 34% of UK pension fund assets were invested in domestic equities, which corresponded to the total now invested in foreign equities. He said: "There has been a realignment away from UK equities, even though the market is rising, partly because people are wary of the concentration of the UK stock market in top stocks."