Households invest abroad via mutual funds and unitlinked insurance

Abstract

Households' investments in personal pension and life insurance and in fund units have been increasing in the current decade. These investments, effected via financial intermediaries, can be allocated by security type, which facilitates the assessment of risk and return. A breakdown of fund investments and unitlinked insurance investments into shares and debt securities results in much larger holdings of foreign securities for households in particular. These indirect holdings nevertheless still account for only a small proportion of households' total financial assets.