Finance houses specialise in leasing and hire purchase agreements. Pension funds collect contributions which are then used to buy stocks and shares. Unit trusts allow small investors to buy a spread of shares in different companies. The money raised from selling units is used to buy stocks and shares in a large number of companies. Units can only be bought and sold from the trust.
Insurance companies collect premiums from policy holders.
Some of this money is used to buy stocks and shares. There is an increasing trend for financial institutions to extend the scope of their business. However, many Building Societies have converted to Plcs as they feel that they are unable to compete fully if they retain their mutual status. This process was started with the conversion of the Abbey National to a Plc. These conversions have resulted in substantial windfall payments during the 1990s and helped contribute to the recovery in retail sales in the middle of the 1990s.