Investing in retirement savings is a long-term, even very long-term bet. The ideal opportunity to bet on long-term supports with the promise of a significant gain on exit. Problem: some of these far-luck funds block PER transfers… or incur additional fees.
I have an old Perp in my bank and I would like to repatriate him to you… The broker, who already manages this client’s life insurance: Of course! The discussion begins concretely on this transfer… then comes a thorny subject. The client in question has invested in a window fund via his PER: also called structured products, autocall or formerly formula fund. Problem: these funds accessible among the units of account (UC) of life insurance or PER offer a promise of regular return… but provide well-defined windows to exit. Result: The broker is stuck. Embarking on this transfer of PER could be unfavorable for this client. In the endhe will advise him… to wait for the classic exit from this structured fund, in a few years, to finally repatriate this old Perp, the former consumer savings product.
SCPIs and structured funds, two families of problematic funds
This astonishing scenario, where a savings broker refuses to convert retirement savings into a new investment in his nets, several brokers told us about it during our survey on PER transfers. Most often on condition of anonymity, more rarely face uncovered.
In all cases, the CUs held on the Perp to be transferred to a PER are sold, underlines Benjamin Clavel, general manager of CPS, which publishes the site TousLesPlacements.com, to set the framework: yes we are talking about transfer. But transfer of the tax envelope only: the supports are all sold before the transfer of the money.
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Benjamin Clavel cites two emblematic cases of transfer blocking caused by specific supports. First problematic support, the structured fund: If the client held a structured product, it will be sold at the daily price [du transfert, NDLR], which may turn out to be unfavorable. Benjamin Clavel mentions files to be studied on a case-by-case basis, with an interim solution: The transfer can be deferred after the expiry of the structured product. Off-the-record, other brokers confirm that the presence of structured funds in transfer PERs leads almost systematically to this waiting position. Unless the customer is aware of the potential losses… and absolutely wants to leave his former insurer or his former bank.
Second problematic family of funds for transfers to a PER: real estate funds and more particularly SCPIs (civilian real estate investment companies). Since SCPI subscription fees are included in the unit price, if you sell your units quickly, you may lose the benefit of recent returns. Above all, if you want to reinvest in an SCPI in the new contract, this means that you will again pay these subscription fees. Disadvantageous, even if these entry fees are most often reduced via life insurance (3% to 5%, for example, against 10% or more sometimes for a direct investment).
Rental investment: are SCPI fees really too high?
The council of the brokers vis-a-vis the presence of the SCPI in the PER to transfer? Again, it all depends on the wishes of the customer. A broker cites the case of a very generously endowed PER: the client voluntarily decided to turn a blind eye to this double invoicing because he wanted to repatriate everything to a single broker.
Funds that extend the deadlines
SCPIs and more generally real estate funds (SCIs and OPCIs) are also among the vehicles slowing down procedures. Because longer to resell, more restrictive for the manager, etc. The insurer Axa also cites monthly quotation funds, that is to say supports whose value is not known permanently but once a month, among the supports slowing down the procedure, because it is necessary to wait for the quotation before to sell. However, this observation is not generalized: thus Allianz, Amundi, Yomoni or even CNP Assurances answered no to the question on media slowing down transfers. The proof, perhaps, that the cases of transfers with these specific funds are not the most frequent.
PER: up to 1 year to transfer all your retirement savings!
The special case of H2O funds
There have been refusals for H2O funds, says a broker. H2O SP shares block transfers between insurers, says another. What are H2O SP shares? A very specific case linked to the setbacks encountered in 2020 by the management company H2O AM. Eight funds were blocked, then the problematic assets were isolated in additional supports called SP funds to side pockets, so that customers can finally resell some of these assets. Since these H2O funds are present in unit-linked life insurance or retirement savings contracts, they have unsurprisingly greatly complicated the transfers of retirement savings contracts that include these supports. But difficult, in this case, to attribute the problem to PER alone.
Life insurance, securities account… A year later, the release of H2O funds remains unclear