An individual investor opening a PEA or subscribing to a life insurance policy in 2024 is navigating a changing regulatory framework. The Council of the European Union adopted its position on June 19, 2024, regarding the strategy for retail investment, requiring financial products to demonstrate good value for money assessed according to their costs, performance, and associated services. Understanding these developments allows for more robust allocation choices.
Value for Money Requirement: What the European Strategy for Retail Investment Changes
The strategy adopted by the EU Council introduces a new principle: every investment product aimed at individuals must prove that it offers a demonstrable value for money. Specifically, ESMA and EIOPA are tasked with developing supervisory benchmarks to compare the actual fees incurred by the investor.
This approach goes beyond mere allocation recommendations. It requires distributors (banks, brokers, online platforms) to justify that the fees charged do not disproportionately erode the expected return. For a portfolio consisting of SCPI, stocks, or bond funds, transparency regarding costs becomes a selection criterion as significant as historical performance.
In practice, this means that before subscribing to a multi-support life insurance contract or a structured product, it is relevant to check on the Neo News finance website the compared fee grids, rather than relying on a gross return displayed without context.
Regulation of Financial Influencers and Information Reliability
France has taken the lead on this issue. Since the law of June 9, 2023, the promotion by influencers of complex financial products, crypto-assets, and NFTs is prohibited without appropriate authorization. The European strategy for retail investment plans to extend this regulation across the continent.
Among new French investors aged 18 to 24 and those with the lowest incomes, social media was the primary source of information reported on investing in 2024. This observation raises a structural issue: investment decisions may rely on the virality of content rather than on the suitability to the investor’s risk profile.
The AMF has also intensified its efforts to combat fraudulent offers. This monitoring work reminds us that checking the accreditation of an intermediary remains a prerequisite before any investment.
Identifying an Unreliable Recommendation
- The intermediary or influencer does not mention their regulatory status (CIF, authorized investment service provider) in their publications.
- The content promises a guaranteed return or minimizes the risk of capital loss, which contradicts the current financial communication rules.
- The promoted product (binary option, exotic crypto-asset, NFT) is on the AMF’s blacklist or is not registered with a European supervisory authority.
Structured Products and Risk Management in a 2024 Portfolio
Structured products are gaining visibility among individual investors. Their principle is based on the combination of an underlying asset (stock index, share, basket of shares) with a mechanism for partial or conditional capital protection. In 2024, several issuers offer guaranteed capital structures at maturity, but this guarantee is only valuable if the issuer remains solvent.
The credit risk of the issuer determines the strength of the capital guarantee. A structured product issued by a leading European bank does not offer the same level of security as a product issued by a less capitalized entity. Before subscribing, reading the Key Information Document (KID) remains the most useful action.
Criteria to Check Before Subscribing to a Structured Product
- The credit rating of the issuer, available on product sheets or from rating agencies.
- The maximum loss scenario: some structures foresee a total loss of capital if the underlying crosses a defined barrier.
- The entry, management, and early exit fees, which can significantly reduce the net return.
- The capital lock-in period, often ranging from several months to a few years depending on the product.
Real Estate Market and SCPI: Adjusting Allocation to the Rate Context
The real estate market is undergoing an adjustment phase linked to changes in key interest rates. For SCPI, fundraising and share valuations have undergone variable corrections depending on the managers. The discount between subscription price and reconstitution value is an indicator to monitor to assess whether an SCPI is already incorporating the decline in the market values of its portfolio.
In a diversified portfolio, the real estate component (SCPI, OPCI, listed real estate companies) plays a role in providing regular returns through distributed rents. In contrast, the capital component remains sensitive to interest rate cycles. The trade-off between paper real estate and bond investments depends on the net return served after fees and taxation, not just the gross rate displayed.
A technical point often overlooked concerns the liquidity of SCPI shares. Unlike stocks listed on the stock exchange, reselling shares can take several weeks or even months during periods of low demand. Incorporating this constraint into allocation management helps avoid being stuck when a cash need arises.
The European regulatory framework, the regulation of information channels, and transparency regarding fees are reshaping the investment landscape in 2024. Rigorous cost comparison, verification of accreditations, and reading regulatory documents remain the most effective actions to protect a portfolio, regardless of the chosen investment.
