The annual ranking of euro funds has become a sham. Because, most often, you cannot invest 100% of your payments into the fund in euros: a portion must be placed in units of account. Result: overall performance will be impacted, up or down. MoneyVox therefore offers you the alternative classification of euro funds that are 100% accessible. Good surprise: the top 5 is above the 3% yield mark.
Is the golden age of euro funds behind us? Probably. Single-support life insurance, offering only a fund in euros and no other support, has gradually been supplanted by multi-support contracts, opening up access to numerous types of investment funds. And over the past decade, a new trend has emerged: limit access to euro funds by imposing a quota of units of account for each payment.
Life insurance: these contracts where you can still pay 100% into a fund in euros
Private or retail banks, physical or online insurers, mutuals… No market player is spared! A choice that is not random. Units of account (UC) are much more profitable for insurers and distributors: payment by CU managers, fees applied to customers, etc. They also simplify the life of insurers, because they limit the need to block cash, under complex solvency rules. In short: imposing these constraints is all for the benefit… except for the client, who is forced to take risks… even if it doesn’t suit him. An uncomfortable situation for risk-averse customers who want to be sure of finding their nest egg.
Especially since these new constraints blur the lines. By imposing 10%, 25%, or even 50% or 75% of UA, the annual remuneration of euro funds only applies to a part of the investment. The overall performance becomes individual and depends on the other products in the portfolio. There will be winners and losers. A question then arises: does comparing euro funds still make sense when they impose a share of units of account?
Life insurance: the new astonishing track record of pilot management
Moneyvox therefore chose a new approach (1). Now, alongside its raw ranking of the best returns, the editorial team offers you a new list of 100% accessible euro funds. And as you will realize, absence of constraints does not mean lack of performance!
TOP 1 – La France Mutualiste
- Fund: General Assets
- Insurer: La France Mutualiste
- Contract: Multisupport Actepargne2
- 2023 yield (net of management fees, gross of taxes): 3.7%
- Management fee: 0.77%
- Payment fees: 0
- Minimum payment: 300 euros
- Composition: 2/3 bonds and money (notably corporate), 1/3 stocks and real estate
- Please note: Investment ceiling of 300,000 euros
After several years of scarcity, the return on general assets of France Mutualiste exploded. With 3.7% delivered for last year, it quite simply delivers the best performance on the market!
Accessible without payment fees, with an entry ticket 300 euros and a ceiling of 300,000 euros, it is undoubtedly one of the best contracts for cautious profiles. One limit, however: its performance has varied greatly over the past 10 years. It will be necessary to check whether this standard rate continues over the years. But it is very possible: in addition to its strong position in bonds corporate and its stocks and real estate pocket, this first place in the rankings and elimination of entrance fees should encourage collection. Given the favorable investment environment, this could stabilize the portfolio’s performance.
TOP 2 – Garance
- Fund: General Assets
- Insurer: Garance
- Contract: Garance Epargne
- 2023 yield (net of management fees, gross of taxes): 3.5%
- Management fees: 0.6%
- Payment fees: up to 1%
- Minimum payment: 100 euros
- Composition: More than 3/4 bonds (notably sovereign) and money, the rest divided between shares and real estate.
- Bonus: 6% guaranteed for any payment until July 15
Garance persists and signs. After having taken first place in the ranking of euro funds in 2021 (2.75%) and 2022 (2.8%), the mutual remains on the podium by delivering 3.5% in 2023. Above all, the insurer hits a big blow by guaranteeing a return of 6% for all payments made from April 15 to July 15: tax aside, it’s twice the Livret A rate! Surprisingly, its strong position in government bonds does not seem to harm it. This highlights effective tactical choices on the part of managers. The current promotion confirms the insurer’s current momentum and optimism. Even if the contract includes payment fees of up to 1%, the consistency of performance makes it a very competitive contract. Especially since it is not very restrictive, accessible from 100 euros payment and no ceiling.
TOP 3 – web contracts managed by the insurer Spirica
- Fund: New Generation Euro
- Insurer: Spirica
- Contracts: Linxea Spirit 2, Meilleurtaux Libert Vie, Asac Neo Vie, Epargne Evolution 2, Netlife 1 and 2 (CGPI)…
- 2023 yield (net of management fees, gross of taxes): 3.13%
- Management fees: 2% maximum
- Payment fees: 0%
- Minimum payment: 500 to 1000 euros depending on the contracts
- Composition: 50% bonds and money, 1/3 real estate (notably SCPI), the rest in private equityshares, mutual funds…
- Bonus: 1.8% for any payment of at least 200,000 euros
- Namely: fund partially guaranteed, the invested capital is guaranteed 98% only
Spirica is back! The web insurer of Crdit Agricole was hollow in launching the new generation Euro fund in 2020. Already well placed in 2022 (2.3%), the fund reached 3.13% in 2023i.e. the 6th largest return on the market.
Available from numerous distributors and brokers, Spirica’s new locomotive partly reproduces the model of its old long-term Euro Allocation fund, relying on a large pocket of real estate (SCPI). But the tactic, facilitated by a partial capital guarantee, aims to grow equity shares and private equity. This approach could help smooth performance over time, by balancing the risks of each asset class. Recently, Spirica chose to remove the access constraint in units of account. This choice should appeal to the most cautious customers.
TOP 4 – BoursoVie
- Fund: Euro Exclusive
- Insurer: Generali
- Contract: BoursoVie
- 2023 yield (net of management fees, gross of taxes): 3.10%
- Management fee: 0.75%
- Payment fees: 0%
- Minimum payment: 300 euros
- Composition: approximately 60% bonds, 1/4 in real estate, the rest in shares
Reserved for BoursoBank clients, the Euro Exclusive fund has relied for 11 years on a strong real estate portfolio combining SCPI, OPCI and SCI. Insured by Generali, it is the false twin of the Netissima fund: both offer the same approach, are partly invested in the same real estate products, and offer the same pricing policy (no entry fees, management charges 0.75%, etc.). But Euro Exclusif being ring-fenced, the outstanding amounts of BoursoVie contract clients are managed and allocated independently. Since its creation, this has often allowed it to outperform its brother at Generali. After an empty spell in 2019 (1.55%), 2020 (1.43%) and 2021 (1.35%), Euro Exclusif regained color in 2022, offering 2.3%, while Netissima was stuck at 1 .53%.
For 2023, the fraternal twins delivered the same net fee rate of 3.10%. The difference is that Euro Exclusif is 100% accessible, while Netissima contracts impose between 20% and 50% units of account.. For cautious profiles, this changes everything!
TOP 5 – MACSF
- Fund: RES
- Insurer: MACSF
- Contract: RES Multisupport
- 2023 yield (net of management fees, gross of taxes): 3.10%
- Management fee: 0.5%
- Fees on payment: 3% maximum + membership of 10 euros during the first payment
- Minimum payment: 200 euros
- Composition: 70% bondholder (notably corporate) and a pocket of diversification (shares listed or not, real estate, etc.).
1.55% in 2020, 2.10% in 2021, 2.5% in 2022 and therefore 3.10 in 2023: the performance of the RES fund has doubled in just four years. Thanks to a long-term bond positioning (the fund has been in existence for more than 50 years), limiting the impact of the fall in rates over the last decade, the MACSF euro fund systematically exceeds the market average for 10 years. In recent years, managers have directed investments towards unlisted sharesrepresenting more than 10% of outstandings. That is 2 billion euros invested in often emerging or potential companies!
If RES is ranked 5th in our top 5 and not tied for 4th, it is because of the payment fees. The insurer deducts up to 3% of payments made to the fund in euros, apart from during promotional periods (MACSF currently promises 0% fees on payments but for a limited period). The MACSF thus constitutes a nice envelope capable of replenishing the reserves or boosting performance. But such costs automatically reduce the profitability of the contract for a good decade.
Bonus (6th) – BNP Paribas Cardif
- Funds: BNP Paribas Cardif Euro Fund
- Insurer: BNP Paribas Cardif
- Contracts: Multiplacements 2, Cardif Elite, Lucya…
- 2023 yield (net of management fees, gross of taxes): 3%
- Management fees: 0.7%
- Fees on payment: from 0 to 2.75% depending on the contracts
- Minimum payment: 50,500 euros depending on the contracts
- Composition: more than 75% bonds, the rest in stocks and real estate
It leaves our comparison, having reached but not exceeded 3%. Despite everything, the BNP Paribas Cardif euro fund has just experienced a huge rebound: 3% in 2023 versus 2% in 2022. We can easily guess the intention of this return applying to all contracts: to align with the remuneration of Livret A, and thus avoid a flight of capital. To achieve this, the insurer explains that it has drawn down its reserves. The interest for managers is also to attract new money, which can be reinvested in generous bonds.
Conditions vary depending on the distributor. The best option is the Lucya Cardif online contract offered by Assurancevie.com. It gives access to general assets and their remuneration… but without fees on payments. Enough to improve the profitability of the contract from the first year!
Euro+, Ampli: promising newcomers
Appearing last year, the Euro+ and Ampli euro funds are also 100% accessible. Launched at an ideal time for investing in high-yield bonds, they offer great prospects. The general assets of Ampli Mutuel, marketed in January 2023, were delivered over almost a year 3.75% net of management fees of 0.5%. A rate that managers wish to stabilize, thanks to a mechanism for modulating collection according to market conditions. There is, however, one constraint: the entry ticket is fixed 5000 euros, no fees on payment.
Proposed by direct placement, the Euro+ fund insured by SwissLife announced an attractive 4.10% net of management fees of 0.6% for 2023. But this figure is symbolic: the assets are not only available since mid-November. We will therefore have to wait until the end of 2024 to draw up a first annual report. But at a time of high rates, the single-support contract appears well placed to sustainably exceed 3%. It is accessible from 500 euros, without entry fees.
Life insurance: the comparison of contracts where you can invest in the fund in euros only
(1) Methodology: we selected only euro funds accessible without unit of account constraints already marketed on January 1, 2023, to compare performances over a full year.