Life insurance remains the preferred investment of the French, with 56 million contracts held by 19 million people and a in progress of 2,107 billion euros at the end of 2025, according to France Assureurs. The Retirement Savings Plan has 12.4 million holders. On this considerable mass, a rule change has gone largely under the radar. Since October 24, 2024, the new managed management contracts must allocate a minimum portion of their payments to unlisted assetsin the name of the Green Industry law. A reform which silently transforms the composition of savings under mandate.
However, the effect macroeconomic is waiting. “Honestly, the impact is still extremely low. The integration of offers into contractscollection and arbitration are done very gradually”recognizes Ariane Douter, Sales and Marketing Director of Entrepreneur Invest, one of the oldest French management companies specializing in not listed for individuals. The actual collection on vehicles not listed in managed management remains marginal, some insurers having not yet referenced any offers due to lack of administrative capacity to manage transfers. But the framework is set and the trajectory started.
An obligation that only concerns managed management
The obligation does not concern all contracts oflife insurance. Only contracts in management drivene or horizon managementthat is to say those where the saver delegates allocation choices to an agent. There free managementin which the subscriber himself arbitrates his supports, is not affected. Contracts already opened before October 24, 2024 are not modified retroactively, the rule applies to new contracts and new memberships after this date. The prudent profile also remains exempt from obligation.
For risky profiles, the thresholds are clearly defined by decree. In life insurancethe balanced profile must include at least 4% unlisted assets and the dynamic profile at least 8%. The PER goes further and applies a progressive logic depending on the horizon of liquidation. The further we are from retirementthe more the dose increases. The dynamic profile of a PER reaches 12% of not listed more than 20 years from maturity, before gradually decreasing as retirement approaches. THE collective PER and mandatory will enter into the system from June 30, 2026.
It remains to understand what this notion of unlisted asset covers. “These are all companies that are not listed on the stock exchange, therefore 95% of the real economy. And we can get there through different asset classesof the actions to the debt.”recalls Ariane Doutey. Behind this very large perimeter are actually four large families, private equity (private equity), private debt, infrastructure and unlisted real estate. The Green Industry law specifically targets assets linked to reindustrialization and the ecological transition, with a focus on SMEs and companies participating in decarbonization.
Illiquidity, valuation, vigilance before signing
The main point of attention is the very nature of these assets. “One point concerns for all unrated solutions, it is theilliquidity”insists Ariane. L’investor commits its capital over several years, without the possibility of arbitrage as with listed assets. In return, the market compensates in theory with an illiquidity premium which makes these assets structurally more profitable in the long term. The annual France Invest / EY study thus measures an annualized net IRR of 12.4% over 10 years to the end of 2024 for French private equity, but with considerable dispersion between the best funds and the worst.
A lesser-known pitfall should attract the attention of new subscribers. Some offers accommodate unlisted assets in vehicles that are themselves liquid, typically ulife insurance account units. “Today, the investor must be vigilant both on the risk of illiquidity of the underlying asset and on the liquidity clauses of the vehicle.alerts Ariane. The insurer guarantees the liquidity of the contract, not necessarily that of the units of account which compose it. In certain cases, the insured may be allocated unlisted shares in place of the cash expected, a mechanism called re-entitlement and provided for by the Pact Law.
Three reflexes to adopt
For the saver who opens a contract today, three reflexes must be activated. Check the management mode (free or managed), the risk profile retained and the detailed list of supports. A contract in balanced or dynamic managed management will now appear named lines FCPR, FPCI, evergreen Or ELTIFwith weekly, monthly quarterly or half-yearly but not daily net asset value. The absence of visible variation does not mean the absence of economic variation. For a holder accustomed to daily monitoring of courses, the perception of risk changes, and this is precisely the mental adjustment that the Green Industry law silently imposes on millions of savers.
The allocation thresholds cited are set by decree and can be modified by regulation. Past performance of private equity is no guarantee of future performance, and unlisted assets present greater risks of capital loss and illiquidity than listed assets. For any specific asset situation, the use of a wealth management advisor is recommended.
