Companies' need for financing and the role of institutional investors

We look at the situations of France and the euro zone. We start with the situation of companies' balance sheets and financing structure. Having identified the changes that would be desirable in corporate financing, we look at what role institutional investors (insurance companies, pension funds) can play to facilitate these changes. The main takeaways are as follows: Companies in France and the euro zone mainly raise financing through unlisted shares (capital of family-owned companies, private equity), with little use of listed shares or bonds; Institutional investors have diversified into corporate bonds and also somewhat into listed shares in the euro zone , but not in France; The trend to be analysed from a regulatory and macrofinancial viewpoint is therefore a parallel increase in companies' financing through listed shares and in institutional investors' investments in listed shares.