<\/p>\n
(Bloomberg) — The European Union wants to unleash trillions of euros in household savings by encouraging people to invest in capital markets \u2014 and it sees Sweden as a template of how to do so.<\/p>\n
Europe is expected to detail its plan this quarter to mobilize citizens\u2019 funds sat in bank deposits as part of its Savings and Investments Union. By making it easier for people to invest, it aims to lift household wealth and boost firms\u2019 access to funding. Analysts say it might promote wider adoption of Swedish-style bank accounts that enable people to easily invest savings in stocks.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Most Read from Bloomberg<\/p>\n
That\u2019s as Poland earlier this month proposed an investment savings account modeled on Sweden\u2019s InvesteringsSparKonto, or ISK system, to create an \u201cequity culture\u201d attracting 100 billion zloty ($27 billion) in its first three years.<\/p>\n
Sweden\u2019s retail-trading base is \u201camong the best in the world\u201d due to the ease by which people been able to invest in listed companies, Philip Scholtze, savings economist at Avanza Bank Holding AB, said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Nordic nation is regarded as a \u201cbest practice\u201d model, said a spokesperson for the financial services department at the European Commission, the EU\u2019s executive arm. The spokesperson added that the bloc aims to provide citizens with \u201ca wider range of tools and knowledge to invest their savings in ways that can directly benefit their personal economy, while simultaneously turbo-charging the investment landscape in the EU.\u201d<\/p>\n
Decades of policymaking in the country of about 10 million people has helped make equity investing more akin to a national sport. Swedish households invest over half of their savings in stocks, more than twice the average in the euro area, according to a report by European Savings Institute this year.<\/p>\n
Anyone with a bank account can trade, while the ISK account \u2014 in place since 2012 \u2014 is not subject to capital gains tax. Securities can be easily bought and sold directly from mobile banking applications.<\/p>\n
\u201cSwedes have good reason to be thankful for the ISK account,\u201d said Mohammed Salih, a 32 year-old communications manager who lives in Listerby in southern Sweden. He has invested with the system for more than ten years. \u201cI have always saved money and tried to build an economically stable future, but I didn\u2019t know how to make the money grow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Story Continues <\/p>\n
He started an Instagram account to document his journey toward his goal of growing assets to 1 million Swedish Kronor ($105,000). He says he achieved it a few years ago, but still posts stock market tips that attract interest. \u201cThe youngest person who has written to me was 13 years old. His parents had helped him set up an ISK account,\u201d Salih said.<\/p>\n
\u2018Important for Young People\u2019<\/p>\n
The ISK simplified the tax structure around capital investments, removing bureaucratic barriers that had previously discouraged participation. \u201cIt\u2019s just a much simpler way to buy stocks,\u201d Frida Bratt, savings economist at Nordnet Bank AB, said. \u201cThis has been especially important for young people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Almost a quarter of Swedes directly own shares in publicly listed companies, with stakes totaling around 540,000 Swedish Kronor ($56,552) on average, according to data from Euroclear Sweden. The most recent available data from the Swedish Investment Fund Association show that about 70% of all Swedes directly invest money in mutual funds.<\/p>\n
In the UK, only 8% of personal wealth is saved in equities and mutual funds, data from a January review by Aberdeen Group Plc showed.<\/p>\n
It remains to be seen what effect the introduction of a EU-wide savings and investment account could have on the wider European market. <\/p>\n
According to Jonas Strom, CEO of the Nordic investment bank ABG Sundal Collier Holding ASA, it is \u201cdefinitely possible\u201d to export the Swedish success with the ISK accounts to a wider European audience.<\/p>\n
The European Commission would only offer a blueprint of how a EU-wide savings and investment account could be constructed, leaving member states to implement it. The success of the proposal ultimately depends on the \u201cpolitical will\u201d of the member states, Strom said.<\/p>\n
–With assistance from Jorge Valero, Jonas Ekblom and Charles Daly.<\/p>\n
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek<\/p>\n
\u00a92025 Bloomberg L.P.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Bloomberg) — The European Union wants to unleash trillions of euros in household savings by encouraging people to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":351705,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5174],"tags":[68576,124256,3662,9654,2000,299,5187,2557,1699,124255,124257,124254,124253,812],"class_list":{"0":"post-351704","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eu","8":"tag-bank-accounts","9":"tag-bank-deposits","10":"tag-bloomberg","11":"tag-capital-markets","12":"tag-eu","13":"tag-europe","14":"tag-european","15":"tag-european-commission","16":"tag-european-union","17":"tag-household-savings","18":"tag-isk","19":"tag-savings-and-investments","20":"tag-southern-sweden","21":"tag-sweden"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115044326062948236","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=351704"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351704\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/351705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=351704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=351704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=351704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}