Natixis Interépargne has partnered with Collectif Reconstruire and VEGA IS to launch a new fund for employee savings and retirement, which will focus on investing in companies in the manufacturing sector in France. 

The feeder fund will combine listed equities and unlisted assets, focused on the manufacturing sector in France, investing through its master fund, VEGA INDUSTRIE France.

The fund is expected to help contribute to efforts to rebuild the industrial value chain across the country, with Natixis Interépargne warning that reindustrialization is a "major issue" of national sovereignty. 

With a discretionary management strategy, the portfolio will combine French and European equities (direct holdings) to capture market trends in the manufacturing sector, and invest in companies that produce consumer goods and equipment (between 90 per cent and 100 per cent of the portfolio). 

The fund also has extra-financial criteria, with a particular focus on employment in France.

In line with this, it will target between 5 per cent and 10 per cent in unlisted asset funds in the private equity, private debt, and infrastructure sectors, focusing on investments primarily in SMEs and mid-cap companies.

However, the group clarified that whilst environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria contribute to the manager's decision-making process, they are not the determining factor for this fund.

Commenting on the launch, Natixis Interépargne deputy CEO, Dominique Dorchies, said: “This new strategy supports our ambition to be a leader in responsible employee savings, directing French savings towards projects that contribute to revitalizing the French industrial sector and supporting employment, thereby strengthening our national sovereignty. 

"This FCPE (Employee Savings Fund) enriches our range of thematic funds focused on key issues such as reindustrialization and employment, and thus resonates with the strategy of the BPCE Group, a cooperative group rooted in all French territories to which we belong.” 

Adding to this, VEGA IS CEO, Marc Riez, said: “Asset management regains its true meaning when it finances the real economy, and it is also within this real economy that we capture the full potential for performance. 

"By supporting listed and unlisted industrial companies, we invest in the real economy by targeting those with potential for value creation and job creation, with the goal of national sovereignty.” We advocate for an active, selective management approach that aims to address the challenges of tomorrow.

Collectif Reconstruire secretary, Philippe Petitcolin, also described the fund as a "decisive step", that embodies the collective's commitment to helping the French people mobilize their savings to support the country's industrial reconstruction. 

"This fund is both a financial tool and a means of collective engagement. By directing our purchasing power and savings towards industry, we contribute directly to France's productive future, to job creation in our regions, and to strengthening our industrial sovereignty," he added. 

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