Blurring the lines between retail investment and retirement saving

The fundamental challenge in EU capital markets is the ‘C in CMU’ – capital – and the EU does not have enough of it. All of the key reports on EU capital markets in 2024 (Draghi, ECB, ESMA, Eurogroup, Letta, Noyer) agreed on the need to better mobilise EU savings into investments, but the obvious lever of pensions reform is a) politically charged and b) would take a (very) long time.

In an upcoming research paper that we’re producing in partnership with Fidelity International we will explore how ‘blurring the lines’ between retail investment and retirement saving could help build deeper pools of capital in the EU more quickly than headline pension reforms.

During this research workshop we will discuss successful (and unsuccessful) examples of tax wrappers and investment accounts in Europe and around the world, and what the EU and member states can learn from the experience in other markets. Think ISAs in the UK, ISKs in Sweden, RRSPs in Canada, IRAs in the US, PERs and PEAs in France, or PIRs in Italy…

The discussion will directly inform our research report, and we expect attendees to be a combination of policy specialists and policymakers that have a link to retail investment and private retirement saving in the EU.