- 01.03.2021
- 2'45 min
- 0
The Relance label – making sense of your savings
Launched on 19 October 2020 by the French Treasury, the Relance (“Recovery”) label aims to orient French people's savings towards investments that contribute to the financing of French companies and comply with ESG criteria.
This €100 billion labelling scheme is part of the government’s Recovery Plan published on 3 September, which revolves around three priorities
• the ecological transition,
• the competitiveness of companies,
• social and territorial cohesion.
The Relance label, launched by the French Minister of Finance last October, aims to create a virtuous circle by channelling the abundant reserves amassed by French savers – primarily in current accounts and savings accounts – into the equity capital of SMEs and intermediate-sized enterprises, which are the main reservoir of jobs in France. This label aims to boost development and is granted to funds that undertake to invest at least 30% of their assets in French companies, at least 10% of which will be specifically dedicated to VSEs, SMEs or intermediate-sized enterprises – both listed and unlisted – as defined by the Relance label charter, published on the Ministry of the Economy’s website in October. In addition, they must endeavour to participate in at least five capital increases or initial public offerings per year. These funds must also show a clear commitment to ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) criteria, by prohibiting investment in the coal sector, for example.
A multitude of possibilities
Some 133 labelled funds were published1 on the Ministry of the Economy's website at the beginning of February. These include funds invested in French or European listed securities, such as undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities (UCITS), unit trusts and mutual funds, as well as private equity funds that finance unlisted companies through a family of vehicles with similar acronyms: FCPR (venture capital funds), FCPI (innovation capital funds) and FIP (local investment funds).
Crédit Agricole intends to play an active role in this movement. Some of the 133 “Relance”-labelled funds are accessible through our life insurance policies and include both listed and unlisted shares, in a process that is completely consistent with our mission statement.
1. Some Relance-labelled funds are reserved for professional clients. Most can be accessed via retail savings vehicles, such as tax-efficient envelopes for life insurance, Personal Equity Plans (PEAs) and SME Personal Equity Plans (PEA-SMEs), or employee savings and pension plans.