Euronext has welcomed the introduction of PEA PME savings accounts in France and has launched its new CAC PME index.
The index is the first in Euronext’s new PEA PME index family, based on the French government’s initiative aimed at encouraging investment in shares and support for financing of SMEs.
The CAC PME index tracks the performance of between 20 and 40 French companies eligible as investment vehicles for PEA PME accounts and listed on Euronext and Alternext markets in Paris. Its components are based on local trade volumes. The weight of each individual stock is capped at 7.5 per cent. The CAC PME index is calculated in real time, and its components and weightings are revised each quarter.
“The launch of PEA PME savings accounts and of EnterNext, Euronext’s subsidiary dedicated to SMEs, are key steps towards a reform in the financing of small and mid-sized companies,” says Anthony Attia, CEO of Euronext Paris. “Estimates from the Observatoire des Entrepreneurs indicate that the creation of PEA PME accounts could generate EUR2.5bn a year in new liquidity for SMEs, and thus channel some of individual investors’ savings into productive, job-creating investments – in other words, link a portion of French savings to financing of the real economy.”
Eric Forest, chairman and CEO of EnterNext, says: “PEA PME savings accounts are a major initiative in efforts to get markets for small and mid-sized shares back on track. They’re a simple product that works like existing PEA accounts, which investors are familiar with and have been using for a long time. Savings invested in a PEA PME account and in the products that will be rolled out on the CAC PME – or on other future indices in the Euronext PEA PME family – are part of the momentum driving EnterNext.”
