Make the UK Great Again 🇬🇧

Written By Toyosi Shodeyi

What You Should Know About the FTSE 100📊

On 2 January 2026, the FTSE 100 crossed 10,000 points for the first time since the index was created.

Reaching that level reflects more than four decades of growth, setbacks, recoveries, and reinvestment.

To understand why this milestone is worth paying attention to, it helps to understand what the FTSE 100 represents and how it grows over time.

What is the FTSE 100

The FTSE 100 was launched on 3 January 1984, starting at a level of 1,000 points.

FTSE stands for Financial Times Stock Exchange. The index was created by the Financial Times and the London Stock Exchange to track the 100 largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange, ranked by size.

In simple terms, it is a snapshot of the UK’s biggest listed businesses.

Many FTSE 100 companies operate globally and generate a significant share of their revenues outside the UK. This global exposure is one reason the index does not always move in line with the domestic UK economy.

Some familiar names include:

  • AstraZeneca

  • Shell

  • HSBC

  • Unilever

  • BP

  • Barclays

  • Glencore

As a result, the FTSE 100 is heavily weighted towards sectors such as:

  • banking and financial services

  • energy and commodities

  • pharmaceuticals and consumer goods

This sector mix helps explain how the FTSE behaves and why it looks different from other major markets.

The Wider FTSE Family 📊

The FTSE 100 is only one part of the UK market.

  • FTSE 250 tracks the next 250 largest companies and tends to include more UK-focused, growing businesses.

  • FTSE 350 combines the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250, offering a broader view of the market.

  • FTSE All-Share covers most companies listed in the UK and is often used as the widest measure of the stock market.

Together, these indices show that the UK market includes both large global companies and smaller, more domestically focused firms.

How the FTSE 100 Compares with the US and Europe🌍

One of the biggest differences between the FTSE 100 and the US market is income.

The FTSE 100 includes many established, cash-generative businesses that regularly return profits to investors through dividends. These tend to be banks, energy companies, consumer staples, and pharmaceutical firms. This makes the FTSE 100 more appealing to investors who value income alongside long-term growth.

By contrast, the S&P 500 in the US is dominated by growth-oriented companies, particularly in technology. Firms like Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Amazon often reinvest profits to expand rather than paying high levels of income today.

The Euro STOXX 600 sits somewhere in between, with a mix of industrial firms like Siemens, luxury brands such as LVMH, and consumer companies like Nestlé.

Because these markets are built around different types of companies, they naturally suit different investor needs and perform well at different times.

How the FTSE 100 Is Weighted

Companies in the FTSE 100 are weighted by market capitalisation.

Market capitalisation simply means:

share price multiplied by the number of shares in issue

Larger companies therefore have a greater influence on the index. When companies like Shell or AstraZeneca move, they tend to move the FTSE more than smaller constituents.

The full list of current FTSE 100 companies is published and updated on the London Stock Exchange website:
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/indices/ftse-100/constituents/table

The Journey to 10,000 ⏳

The FTSE 100’s rise from 1,000 to 10,000 did not happen smoothly.

For context:

  • moving from 1,000 to 2,000 took around three years

  • reaching 5,000 took roughly thirteen years

  • reaching 10,000 took more than forty years

What stands out is how uneven the journey was.
The final move from 9,000 to 10,000 happened in just over 200 days, while earlier gains took many years.

Price Return vs Total Return 📊

When headlines say “the FTSE 100 hit 10,000”, they are referring to the price index.

The price index reflects changes in share prices only.
It does not include income paid out by companies.

That income comes in the form of dividends.

A total return measure includes share price movements, dividends paid by companies, and the assumption that those dividends are reinvested.

What Total Return Shows Us 💷

Using the FTSE 100 Total Return Index, which assumes all dividends are reinvested:

  • £1,000 invested when the index launched in January 1984

  • would have grown to around £11,400 by the time the FTSE reached 10,000

  • a total return of roughly 1,040%, before inflation, taxes, and fees

The headline index level shows where prices ended up.
Total return shows how long-term investors actually benefited over time.

Final Thoughts 📈

Markets go up and down. That part does not change.

Over the FTSE 100’s forty-plus year journey, investors experienced:

  • the dot-com crash

  • the global financial crisis

  • the global pandemic

  • long periods where markets felt stuck

  • ongoing political and economic uncertainty

And yet, over time, the market continued to move forward.

The FTSE 100 reaching 10,000 is a reminder that long-term progress is built by staying invested through these periods, not by trying to avoid them.

Time in the market tends to matter far more than timing the market 🌱

Toyosi Shodeyi
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