He was notably recruit 7 people this year

The Pension Reserve Fund (RRF) may blow a little. 2009 proved its best year since its inception, with 15, and a performance increase of 20.2 of its assets, EUR 33.3 billion. He received nearly 1.4 billion euros of money, or a little less than in previous years. A 2.8, its average annual performance of long-term is still less than the cost of resources. The RIF had registered yields, respectively 12.4 and 11.1, in 2005 and 2006, and 4.9 at the start of the crisis (2007).

Last year, the institution had the bulk of its good performance in the rebound of stock markets. The Fund held to end of 2009 a little less than half (47) of its assets in shares. Today, 60 of its investments in this asset class are invested in securities of euro area, and 40 in the United States. All geographical areas combined, around three quarters of its equity investments are on the large values, and the rest on the small and medium-sized companies. As in 2008, a handful of companies have been excluded from the portfolio of the RIF last year, including of companies producing cluster munitions. The Fund has no logic to a priori exclusions of certain sectors, he argues the case by case basis. On the bonds, RIF is little exposed on Greek sovereign debt, with 200 to 300 million euros in investments.

Moreover, with the possible prospect of long-term rates rise, including securities of State, is the RIF bond portfolio that could be affected in the future. Fixed rate bonds were end 2009 27.5 of the total of its assets.

For the future, the RIF will have to submit a new more tightened budget. He was notably recruit 7 people this year. It will be probably forced to revise down its ambitions, which remain quite modest with regard to the means available to its counterparts in other countries.

How 2009 took place

It has been very satisfactory. The performance of the RIF was 15, making 2009 the best year of the RRF since its inception. We have caught up with 60 decline recorded in 2008, which had reached 24.9. The progression of actions represented three quarters of the annual performance of the Fund. Therefore, the annualized performance of long-term RIF returned to 0.2 to 2.8 between late 2008 and late 2009. Thus, the amount is at end of 2009 of EUR 33.3 billion for an amount of EUR 30 billion received bonus.

Regret of not having more invested equity

We have no regrets on the fact of not having been quite offensive. In the same way that need to maintain his composure at the height of the storm, it was perfectly logical to exercise caution at a time where, moreover, the financial crisis was having finished its effects. We try to maintain this balance between, on the one hand, convictions of investment based on a long term horizon that allow us to benefit from the return on assets such as average actions, such as the one recorded in 2009, and prudence remains of implementation because the economic and financial environment remains unstable. It is a performance art!

Some scenarios are planning to draw on the reserves of the RIF today, in the meantime that the pension reform announced for this year to produce its effects. How do you react

By nature, a reserve fund raises temptations House universe, and hence speculations. I remember that the Act does make possible disbursements after 2020 and that we therefore retained, for our investment strategy, a technical assumption of disbursements between 2020 and 2040. Our vocation is to smooth the impact of the arrival of the generations of the baby boom at the age of retirement, is part of the long term. It would be worrying and harmful to consider that the use of RIF can substitute for a strategy of rebalancing of regimes based on permanent and structural action levers.

However, the context in which the RRF was born ten years ago is no longer the same. It is understandable that its role be redefined...

Rendezvous coming to will certainly give a very long horizon and should exceed 2020. It is therefore normal that in this case, the question of the place of the RIF in rebalancing long-term plans be asked. But must take the subject in the right direction, namely starting discounted long term funding needs, mobilize the structural actions levers (age and length, level of pensions, perennial revenue plans) and then, and only then see how RIF can complement, in the long term horizon which is his own, temporarily the effect of the instruments of rebalancing.