Position paper on the Retail Investment Strategy

Increasing retail investors’ access to capital markets is vital if Europe aims to secure a sustainable economy, digital adoption, and shared prosperity for the future. FESE believes that Europe needs to empower its retail investors so that they can consciously participate in capital markets by making investment practices simple and transparent.

Collective action by European and Member States’ policymakers is needed to ensure that European companies, from large caps to small and mid-caps (SMEs), can raise finance efficiently through public capital markets and that investors, particularly retail, benefit from the opportunities such investments provide.

FESE Members call for a number of high-level principles on how to empower retail investors who wish to tap investment opportunities from public capital markets:

• Access to capital markets should be open for all types of investors, provided they receive all necessary information to make an informed decision.
• Broad availability of financial products should meet various needs and investment strategies of different types of investors depending on their level of sophistication.
• Retail investors should receive only necessary information that is easy to read and understand, and that allows for product comparison. Avoid information overburdening and duplication.
• Cost transparency should be maintained to prevent conflicts of interest and hidden costs for retail investors.

FESE’s position paper will further elaborate on separate sections of the RIS proposal. Please note that the position paper was updated on 10th April and includes more nuanced positions on access to corporate bonds, and exchange-traded derivatives (ETDs). FESE also provides further details regarding the design of Value for Money (VfM) benchmarks.