The success of a personal pension product created by the loi Pacte has seen France become one of the largest IORP countries in the European Economic Area (EEA), PensionsEurope has noted in a new report.
In both France and Sweden, new laws to implement the IORP II Directive paved the way for a shift of assets from the Solvency II framework to a new regime better tailored for retirement activities, but there is a specificity to France in that the IORPs there can manage a commercial product, namely the Produit d’Epargne Retraite (PER).
In France, IORPs are the main entities managing individual PERs, which are subscribed by individuals without any help from employers. IORPs are an EU vehicle for occupational pension provision, governed by the IORP II Directive, which is currently under review.
According to figures by the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), as at the end of 2023, France had 23 IORPs, with €215.9bn in assets under management, 7.9% of the total in the EEA. This makes it the fourth largest IORP country, following the Netherlands, Sweden, and Germany. As at the end of 2021, Italy was fourth, according to EIOPA figures.
The description of the situation in France was included in the annexe of a new PensionsEurope report on trends and developments in funded pensions in Europe.
Mainly using quarterly data from the European Central Bank (ECB), the report relays that total assets of euro area pension funds amounted to €3.59trn as at the end of 2024, compared with liabilities of €2.96trn.
One major trend identified is the substantial increase in equity holdings, which more than doubled (up 115%) between the end of 2020 and 2024, “reflecting first and foremost the positive price changes driven by booming stock markets in the US”.
According to the report, PensionsEurope member associations represent €6.1trn in assets under management, split across second pillar pension plans (€4.4trn), book reserves (€925.8bn), group insurance (€341.8bn), and third pillar personal pensions (€407.9bn).
PensionsEurope member associations include those in non-EU countries, such as Switzerland, and the scope of the ECB’s data and PensionsEurope’s for second pillar plans is slightly different.
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Susanna is ESG Editor at IPE, steering the publication's coverage of responsible investment news and analysis. She has a penchant for EU regulation, which also sees her covering EU pensions policy, and is a bit of a newshound so may drift into other areas, too.View full Profile
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