Tonally, the recent passing of its 40th birthday has been more mournful than celebratory. Middle age always presents challenges. But such a melancholic lament for the index would probably have shocked its creators, the Financial Times and the London Stock Exchange (LSE), had they known in 1984 that the Footsie would today remain the UK equity benchmark of reference, contain more than a quarter of its original members in some form, and have made a 22-fold return, including dividends, during its life.
Still, the current critique should be familiar. Once a collection of world-leading names, today's FTSE 100 is instead seen as bereft of renewal, a grab-bag of has-been, capital-intensive companies, incapable of genuine innovation or consistently above-average returns.