WEBULL

With 64% institutional ownership, Standard Chartered PLC (LON:STAN) is a favorite amongst the big guns

Simply Wall St · 2d ago

Key Insights

  • Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, Standard Chartered's stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions
  • A total of 12 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
  • Using data from analyst forecasts alongside ownership research, one can better assess the future performance of a company

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If you want to know who really controls Standard Chartered PLC (LON:STAN), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 64% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Because institutional owners have a huge pool of resources and liquidity, their investing decisions tend to carry a great deal of weight, especially with individual investors. Hence, having a considerable amount of institutional money invested in a company is often regarded as a desirable trait.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Standard Chartered.

See our latest analysis for Standard Chartered

ownership-breakdown
LSE:STAN Ownership Breakdown December 25th 2025

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Standard Chartered?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

Standard Chartered already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Standard Chartered's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

earnings-and-revenue-growth
LSE:STAN Earnings and Revenue Growth December 25th 2025

Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. Hedge funds don't have many shares in Standard Chartered. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited with 18% of shares outstanding. BlackRock, Inc. is the second largest shareholder owning 8.3% of common stock, and Capital Research and Management Company holds about 6.3% of the company stock.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 12 have the combined ownership of 51% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over the company.

While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. There are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of Standard Chartered

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own less than 1% of Standard Chartered PLC. Being so large, we would not expect insiders to own a large proportion of the stock. Collectively, they own UK£83m of stock. Arguably recent buying and selling is just as important to consider. You can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 16% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Standard Chartered. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

Private Equity Ownership

With a stake of 18%, private equity firms could influence the Standard Chartered board. Some might like this, because private equity are sometimes activists who hold management accountable. But other times, private equity is selling out, having taking the company public.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Standard Chartered better, we need to consider many other factors.

I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can find historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.