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Établissement de Retraite Additionnelle de la Fonction Publique (ERAFP)
Created by the French state in 2003 as part of a broader pension reform, ERAFP administers the mandatory additional points-based retirement scheme for 4.5...
Établissement de Retraite Additionnelle de la Fonction Publique (ERAFP)
Created by the French state in 2003 as part of a broader pension reform, ERAFP administers the mandatory additional points-based retirement scheme for 4.5 million civil servants. The scheme is a pay-as-you-go system, but early legislative design allowed it to build reserves to smooth future contribution rates. Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC) handles the administrative and technical management under an agreement with the fund, creating a unique governance architecture where investment policy is set by a politically appointed board but execution is delegated to one of France's most powerful public financial institutions. ERAFP is a lender and direct investor across a deliberately narrow band of developed-market assets. The portfolio is divided into broad exposures including European real estate, global infrastructure debt, corporate and sovereign credit, and listed equities, with every holding subjected to the fund's own SRI charter. Real estate mandates — awarded to managers including AEW, La Française, Swiss Life Asset Managers and AXA IM — cover both commercial and residential properties exclusively within Europe. Infrastructure and private credit allocations target OECD-based assets that meet the fund's carbon-transition criteria, while the listed equity book tilts heavily toward companies with strong ESG profiles. The fund's public record as a founding signatory of the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) in 2006 set an early precedent for its activist climate posture. In 2015 it co-founded the Portfolio Decarbonization Coalition, and it has since joined the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, and Climate Action 100+. ERAFP's board publishes an annual SRI report, detailing its carbon footprint, engagement votes, and exclusion decisions — a transparency level that exceeds many larger European peers. Its structural differentiator is a refusal to separate fiduciary return from the social purpose of the capital. The fund does not operate a carve-out or a compliance overlay — the SRI filter is the investment process. This design was legislated, not evolved by choice, locking the fund into long-term investing patterns that private pension funds can abandon when political sentiment shifts. In practice, ERAFP serves as a test case of whether a public fund can meet actuarial return targets inside a rigid extra-financial framework, with the French public service as the sole beneficiary and the state as the ultimate backstop.
General information
Firm type
Pension Fund
Year founded
2003
Location
Region
Europe
Country
France
City
Paris
Corporate office
12 rue Portalis, 75008 Paris, France
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who sets investment policy at ERAFP?
A politically appointed board of directors sets investment policy, including the SRI charter and asset allocation ranges. Day-to-day treasury management and execution are delegated under contract to Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC), the French public financial institution. The fund also employs a small internal team to oversee the external mandates, engage with managers on ESG votes, and publish the annual SRI reporting.
How does ERAFP's SRI charter differ from a standard ESG integration approach?
The charter is binding and exclusionary rather than a tilt or scorecard overlay. It prohibits any holding that does not meet its predefined environmental, social, and governance thresholds, which has historically excluded entire sectors from the portfolio. The charter was embedded in the fund's founding documents, meaning the board cannot simply relax the rules without legislative change or public consultation.
Does ERAFP invest in private equity or venture capital?
ERAFP's private-market activity centers on real estate, infrastructure debt, and private credit — not traditional private equity or venture capital. Its real estate mandates are entirely European, diversified across office, retail, and residential assets, managed through separate accounts with firms including AEW and La Française.
What is the fund's relationship to Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations?
CDC acts as ERAFP's administrative and technical manager under a public service delegation. It executes the investment decisions, handles treasury operations, and manages the back-office functions. The board of ERAFP remains the ultimate decision-maker on strategy, manager selection, and the enforcement of the SRI charter, with CDC bound to implement the board's directives.
What is known about ERAFP's stance on fossil fuel exclusions?
ERAFP applies a stringent carbon policy consistent with its membership in the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance and the Portfolio Decarbonization Coalition. The fund publishes annual carbon-footprint data and engagement records as part of its Climate Action 100+ commitments, and its SRI charter has led to the exclusion of companies whose business models are judged incompatible with a 1.5°C transition pathway.
Is ERAFP a funded pension scheme or a pay-as-you-go system?
It is a pay-as-you-go points-based scheme, not a fully funded defined-benefit plan. Contribution surpluses over current benefit payments allow the fund to build reserves, which the board invests with a dual objective: to earn a return that helps stabilize future contribution rates, and to do so under the constraints of the SRI charter that applies to the entire portfolio.
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