Tate & Lyle's impending exit from the FTSE 100 closes a peculiar chapter in London market history. The food ingredients group holds an unusual distinction: entering and exiting the index six times each, making it the most frequent dancer in the FTSE 100 hokey-cokey. This quirky record stems from Tate & Lyle's gradual shift away from its sugar roots, which weren't fully abandoned until 2010.

Hikma Pharmaceuticals appears set to inherit this dubious honor if the takeover completes. The Jordanian drugmaker recently lost its blue-chip status for a fifth time in March, replaced by Georgian bank Lion Finance. Both companies exemplify how emerging market firms now populate traditional Western indices, reflecting broader economic shifts over recent decades.

The broader question involves FT-30 survivors. Several original constituents persist today, though transformed: Distillers lives on within Diageo, while Vickers became part of Rolls-Royce. Others vanished entirely or survive only as brands. Yet whether Tate & Lyle technically qualifies as an FT-30 survivor matters little to investors focused on fundamentals rather than historical curiosities.

Market trivia makes for entertaining pub quizzes but rarely drives investment decisions. Tate & Lyle's departure represents corporate evolution, not market upheaval. For fund managers tracking FTSE indices, the practical concern remains performance metrics and sector exposure, not nostalgic index lineage.