Impact Policy Tracker Policy

Solidarity-based Funds (“90/10 funds”)



Introduced by the 2001 Employee Savings Reform or “Fabius” Law (Law 2001-152), France’s “Solidarity-based Funds” are a unique financial vehicle designed to mobilise private capital for the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE). Offered within employee savings schemes, employees can choose to invest in these Funds, where 5% to 10% of their savings are allocated to social-purpose organisations (such as solidarity-based enterprises, microfinance funds and solidarity-based financial funders), with the remaining being invested in listed companies that meet France’s Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) principles. This scheme has become a vital source of funding for small and early-stage social enterprises, which often face higher risk profiles and limited access to traditional capital markets.



Highlights

  • Democratising retail access to impact investing: France’s 90/10 solidarity-based funds offer retail investors a simple, regulated avenue to allocate a portion of their savings to the Social and Solidarity Economy. Embedded in employee savings schemes, these funds combine mainstream listed investments with a 5–10% allocation to social-purpose organisations. Their reliability is reinforced by the independent Finansol Label - currently hosted by FAIR, part of GSG Impact’s NP in France, and created in 1997 to distinguish solidarity-based savings products from traditional offerings - which assures savers that their capital is directed to genuine solidarity economy actors, reducing risks of greenwashing and making impact investing both transparent and attainable for a broad base of retail investors.

  • Government regulation as a key success factor: the success of France’s “90/10” Funds is rooted in legislation that defines, standardises, and channels financing to solidarity-based funds through employee savings schemes. Key laws include the “Fabius” Law (2001), which established the framework; the “Fillon” Law (2003), which reinforced the employee savings ecosystem by promoting long-term savings and employer contributions; the Economic Modernisation Law (2008), which extended eligibility to all employee savings plans; and the PACTE Law (2019), which further broadened access by allowing inclusion in life insurance contracts. In addition, these funds benefit from favourable tax incentives for both employees and employers, as well as the option for employer top-up contributions, further reinforcing their uptake and capital base.

  • Substantial expansion of the solidarity-finance sector: the size of France’s solidarity finance sector grew from EUR 220 million in 2001, before the “Fabius” Law, to EUR 6 billion in 2013 and a record EUR 30.2 billion in 2023, reflecting strong and sustained expansion. This hundred-fold surge has been powered above all by solidarity employee-savings vehicles (the 90/10 funds), which now represent roughly 60 % of total solidarity assets.

Government’s Role:
Market Regulator


Country:
France

Policy Type:
Facilitating Retail Investors’ Participation in the Impact Economy

Year: 2001

Responsible Institution:
French National Assembly

Additional information:
Study on 90/10 Funds

Facilitating Retail Investors’ Participation in the Impact Economy

Retail investors represent a significant yet often overlooked source of capital for the impact economy. While most discussions on mobilising private capital focus on institutional investors, retail investors collectively hold +USD 100 trillion1 in savings, particularly in countries with high household saving rates. Unlocking even a fraction of this potential could channel billions towards projects that foster economic growth and deliver positive social and environmental outcomes.

Despite this potential, retail participation in sustainable and impact investing remains limited due to several structural barriers, which include - but are not limited to- : (i) low public awareness and visibility of available opportunities, (ii) the limited number of publicly listed impact companies - often due to their smaller size - making them inaccessible through mainstream investment channels, (iii) high minimum investment thresholds, and (iv) liquidity constraints, as many impact investments, particularly in unlisted companies or private markets, involve long lock-in periods that may not suit individual investors’ needs.

Governments can play a key role in addressing these barriers by lowering investment thresholds through proportionate regulatory frameworks (as in the EU’s ELTIF Regulation), developing more flexible impact investment vehicles to address liquidity concerns, establishing reliable labelling schemes for sustainable and impact products, opening regulated avenues for retail investors to invest in unlisted impact companies (as seen in the UK), and tackling sustainable and impact investment literacy gaps through awareness campaigns.



1 Financial Times Group (2022). “The Individual Imperative: Retail Impact Investing Uncovered”. Available at: https://sri360.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/FT_Focus-IMPACT_V10-5.pdf