Politicians take hold of the issue of fees on retirement savings plans

“We have a challenge in front of us, it is the rise of the discourse on the expenses in terms of retirement savings plan”, confided mid-September Bernard Le Bras, chairman of the board of Suravenir, in front of an assembly of journalists. The insurer had obviously felt the tide, after the publication during the summer of the report by Corinne Dromer, the president of the Advisory Committee of the Financial Sector (CCSF).

Because at the end of September, it was the Minister of the Economy and Finance’s turn to put pressure on the sector. “I consider today that market players take commissions or fees that are excessive”, Bruno Le Maire said about retirement savings plans (PER) marketed in the form of life insurance. The Minister urged the distributors of these products to be more transparent in the presentation of their costs.

The government is encouraging market players to agree to propose a more explicit and homogeneous presentation of costs, both in the pre-contractual documentation and in the annual information sent to contract holders. By the beginning of next year, professionals should include the total cumulative amount of annual contract fees, expressed as a percentage of the outstanding amount, according to Bercy’s wish.

While there is no question of legislating for the moment to regulate prices, the Minister insisted on the fact that transparency is not an end in itself. “I want transparency to lead to reduced costs. We must increase the comparability of offers, increase competition between service providers so that the French can choose the PER on which the costs are the lowest ”, Bruno Le Maire said. And the minister is not the only one to take up the subject.

Read also Article reserved for our subscribers Retirement savings plan: pay attention to the fees charged!

The attacks also come from the side of the senators. On October 6, Jean-François Husson (LR) and Albéric de Montgolfier (LR) indeed presented, on behalf of the finance committee, a report on the protection of savers. In summary, this report concludes that the savings market in France has too many fees, affecting the performance of savings products.

Several avenues are being explored to improve the situation, including stricter supervision of certain committees.

In addition, the senators propose to make compulsory the listing of low-cost index products (ETF) in all tax-advantaged savings products, like the PER. Finally, to help savers make an informed choice, the report recommends “That the ACPR [Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution] offers, on a regular basis, a public comparator of average life insurance costs ”.

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