Retail investment strategy
Retail investment strategy
Context
Europe has one of the highest individual savings rates in the world. However, the level of retail investor participation in capital markets remains low compared to other economies, with a majority of citizens keeping their savings in bank deposits, traditional saving products and fixed income based life insurance products, generating low or even negative real interest rates with the current level of inflation. Developing retail investment and making the EU an even safer place for individuals to save and invest long-term is one of the main objectives of the new CMU action plan published in September 2020, aiming to support the long-term funding of EU enterprises and also ensure that citizens benefit sufficiently from the investment opportunities offered by capital markets, notably for preparing their retirement.
In this action plan, the Commission announced its intention to propose a Retail Investment Strategy (RIS) for the second half of 2022. With the RIS, the Commission is seeking to ensure that the legal framework for retail investments is suitably adapted to the profile and needs of consumers, helps ensure improved market outcomes, empowers retail investors and is also adapted to new evolutions in the market such as increasing digitalisation.
A further objective is to develop a more holistic view of investor protection rules, which are at present set out in several separate distribution and product EU regulatory frameworks (MiFID, IDD, UCITS, PRIIPs…), resulting in potential differences and inconsistencies.
A first consultation on the RIS was conducted in 2021 covering the main topics pertaining to investor protection and guidance. In the answers received, many stakeholders called to simplify and improve the way investors’ profiles are assessed. The Commission subsequently launched at the beginning of 2022 a targeted consultation on ways to improve the current suitability and appropriateness regimes. The on-going reviews of the MiFID II, IDD and PRIIPs frameworks in particular in the areas of inducements, disclosure and advice also feed into the work on the RIS.
Contributions to the policy debate
Extracted from the main Eurofi publications (Regulatory Updates, Views Magazines and Conference Summaries)
Public and private
sector views
Retail investment strategy - February 2022 new
Benoît de Juvigny - Autorité des Marchés Financiers | Ugo Bassi - European Commission | Gabriel Bernardino - Portuguese Securities Market Commission | Stéphanie Yon-Courtin - European Parliament | Jos Heuvelman - Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets | Guillaume Prache - Better Finance | Simon Janin - Amundi | Robyn Laidlaw - Vanguard Asset Management, Ltd | Gerben Everts - European Investors’ Association
Retail investment strategy - September 2021
Rodrigo Buenaventura - Spanish Securities and Exchange Commission | Martin Merlin - European Commission | Guillaume Prache - Better Finance | Jean-Paul Servais - Financial Services and Markets Authority, Belgium | Stéphanie Yon-Courtin - European Parliament | Christoph Bergweiler - J.P. Morgan Asset Management | Christian Hyldahl - BlackRock | Thomas Schaufler - Erste Group Bank AG
Retail investment - April 2021
Maria Luis Albuquerque / Guillaume Prache - Better Finance | Ante Žigman - Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency | Stéphanie Yon-Courtin - European Parliament | Christian Staub - Fidelity International | Fausto Parente - European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority | Simon Janin - Amundi