Chief executives of the UK’s 100 largest listed firms saw the value of their personal stakes in their firms drop by an average of more than £2 million ($2.92 million) each to £8.96 million in the first half of 2008 from the same period a year before, according to research by UK-based Heartwood Wealth Management.

Since the end of June last year, CEOs have lost, on average, a further £2.23 million each in the value of their stake, assuming that there has been no change in the number of options or incentive plan shares held, the firm said in a statement.

The research indicates how high net worth investors from the corporate world have been hit by the market falls over the past year. The sharp drop in the value of assets held by FTSE 100 CEOs in their companies reverses a five year growth trend which saw their holdings increase nearly fourfold from an average of £2.96 million in 2002 to £11.1 million in 2007.

Heartwood’s analysis shows that 34 per cent of assets are currently held as shares in chief executives’ own names and the balance of 66 per cent as share options or in Long Term Incentive Plans.

Over the past two years, there has been a significant shift in value away from shares, which in 2006 accounted for 55 per cent of the value of their assets, towards share options and LTIPs.

The data was based on companies with annual reports published between 1 January 2008 and 30 June 2008.