Own-initiative OPSG Advice on Unlocking Investment Opportunities in the European Union (European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority)

Summary

• European insurers hold over EUR 10 trillion in assets, while Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provision (IORPs) manage roughly EUR 3 trillion.p.2
• European asset managers managed over EUR 34 trillion at the end of 2025, with around 68 percent on behalf of institutional investors.p.2
• The SAFE instrument provides up to EUR 150 billion in long-maturity EU loans for joint procurement in the defence sector.p.2
• Comparative research indicates that had France and Germany followed the capitalization paths of Australia, Canada, and Sweden in the 1990s, their combined stock of risk capital would today be roughly EUR 10 trillion higher.p.7

Key insights

1. Fiduciary capital responds more reliably to clear asset structures and financial incentives than to political persuasion.p.2
2. An investment opportunity must simultaneously pass four tests to be investible: risk-return alignment, scale and liquidity, governance and legal certainty, and development-stage fit.p.9
3. Infrastructure, energy, and resilience assets naturally fit pension portfolios, but only when regulation is predictable and risks are allocated to the appropriate parties.p.2
4. Institutional investors achieve higher design influence by taking founding seats or co-building specialist asset managers early.p.3
5. Restructuring venture exposures into asymmetric senior-junior tranches can align innovative equity assets with institutional prudential constraints.p.16
6. Proactive self-directed engagement by institutional investors is the best defense against mandatory investment quotas.p.3