ETFs: The French connection

  The marketplace: Banks and insurers dominate  France is one of Europe’s biggest investment markets. Mutual funds, almost all of them domestically domiciled, had assets of €834bn last year, according to Cerulli Associates.  Investors are typically cautious. Over 50% of assets under management (AUM) is in money market funds. ‘Cash plus’ funds froze solid in the crisis when underlying mortgage-backed security holdings were impossible to value. The money market sector has since been narrowly redefined, enticing investors back to the fold. Like others in Europe, the French investmen...