Distributing in France · Guide

How to distribute your funds in France and French-speaking Europe

If you manage a fund domiciled outside France and you are trying to work out how the French institutional market actually functions, this is where to start. Not the marketing brochure version — the one written by someone with 20 years in fund distribution to institutional investors in Paris, who built the CGP and insurer channel for a French banking group and now runs Third Party Marketing engagements for boutique managers entering France, Luxembourg, Belgium and Monaco. Each article below covers one part of the process: what regulatory passporting actually gets you, who the real buyers are, what it costs to build a presence, what selectors expect from a pitch, and how the CGP and unit-linked distribution layer works. Read them in order if you are starting from zero, or jump to the one that answers the question you are actually asking this month.

Who this is for

Written for a Head of Distribution, Head of International Sales, or CEO at a boutique or mid-sized asset manager outside France, with no French office and no French track record yet, evaluating whether — and how — to enter the French institutional market.

Distributing a UCITS fund in France: registration is the easy part
Passporting a UCITS into France takes a few weeks. Getting a French institutional investor to allocate takes twelve to eighteen months. Here is what happens in between.
8 min read
The French institutional buyer map: who allocates, what they buy, and how long it takes
Insurers, multi-managers, private banks, CGP networks, family offices: five very different buyers hide behind the word 'institutional' in France. A field guide for foreign asset managers.
9 min read
Hiring a salesperson in Paris, opening an office, using a platform or a third-party marketer: what entering France actually costs
A senior institutional salesperson in Paris takes twelve to eighteen months to produce. Here is what that money buys, what it doesn't, and the alternatives.
9 min read
CGPs, unit-linked lists and platforms: the French adviser layer, explained to foreign asset managers
Every conversation in Paris mentions the CGPs. Almost nobody explains to a foreign manager what they are, how they buy, or why you should not try to sell to them in your first two years. Written by someone who built that channel from scratch.
10 min read
A €2,000 billion market, and a different meaning of “wholesale”
In France, “wholesale” means private banks and their fund selection units, not a sales method. How the chain works and why an institutional deck does not travel.
3 min read
What is a TPM in France? The job, the fee, the limits
A third-party marketer is an outsourced, local distribution partner for asset managers without a French sales team. What the job covers, how the fee works, and what to check before signing.
6 min read

Who this is for

Distributing a UCITS fund in France: registration is the easy part

Passporting a UCITS into France takes a few weeks. Getting a French institutional investor to allocate takes twelve to eighteen months. Here is what happens in between.

8 min read

The French institutional buyer map: who allocates, what they buy, and how long it takes

Insurers, multi-managers, private banks, CGP networks, family offices: five very different buyers hide behind the word 'institutional' in France. A field guide for foreign asset managers.

9 min read

Hiring a salesperson in Paris, opening an office, using a platform or a third-party marketer: what entering France actually costs

A senior institutional salesperson in Paris takes twelve to eighteen months to produce. Here is what that money buys, what it doesn't, and the alternatives.

9 min read

CGPs, unit-linked lists and platforms: the French adviser layer, explained to foreign asset managers

Every conversation in Paris mentions the CGPs. Almost nobody explains to a foreign manager what they are, how they buy, or why you should not try to sell to them in your first two years. Written by someone who built that channel from scratch.

10 min read

A €2,000 billion market, and a different meaning of “wholesale”

In France, “wholesale” means private banks and their fund selection units, not a sales method. How the chain works and why an institutional deck does not travel.

3 min read

What is a TPM in France? The job, the fee, the limits

A third-party marketer is an outsourced, local distribution partner for asset managers without a French sales team. What the job covers, how the fee works, and what to check before signing.

6 min read