PARIS (Realist English). French entrepreneurs and wealthy families are moving record sums of money out of the country, pouring capital into Luxembourg-based annuities and Swiss private banks as political instability and tax uncertainty deepen under President Emmanuel Macron’s government.
Wealth managers and lawyers say the capital flight began after Macron’s snap parliamentary elections in June 2024 fractured the National Assembly, triggering a string of short-lived governments and fierce disputes over the budget. The exodus has only accelerated in 2025, as Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu seeks to plug a ballooning deficit by imposing new taxes on high earners.
“The majority of assets we handle are no longer in France — they’re going into Luxembourg life insurance contracts. It’s really accelerating,” said Guillaume Lucchini, founder of Paris-based wealth manager Scala Patrimoine.
According to Luxembourg’s insurance watchdog, French investments in life insurance policies — a tax-favored savings product if held over eight years — rose 58% in 2024 to €13.8 billion, the highest level on record. Brokers in the Grand Duchy say inflows remain “nonstop.”
Lawyer Olivier Roumélian, who works with Luxembourg insurers, said brokers “barely have to market anymore to attract French clients.” Wealth adviser Benjamin Le Maitre added that every new bout of political turbulence “doubles” the number of inquiries about moving assets abroad.
Much of the new wealth is also flowing into Switzerland, where banks and asset managers are benefiting from France’s domestic uncertainty. “A lot of French moved to Switzerland between 1980 and 2010,” said Philippe Kenel, a Swiss-based lawyer specializing in tax and estate planning. “That slowed when Macron was elected — people hoped things would improve. Now it’s picking up again.”
While Macron scrapped France’s wealth tax early in his presidency, his government’s pro-business reform agenda has been largely derailed by political paralysis. The left-wing Socialist Party, on which Lecornu now depends for parliamentary support, is calling for the reintroduction of a wealth tax.
In response, the government is preparing to raise €2.5 billion in new taxes next year through higher levies on holding companies and one-off charges targeting 20,000 of France’s richest taxpayers.
For many affluent French, the issue is as much about stability as taxation. “It’s not only about taxes,” said Kenel. “People want the stability that Switzerland offers.”
Financial advisers say transferring funds to Luxembourg or Swiss accounts offers flexibility: while it provides no automatic tax break, it enables clients to restructure their finances abroad and relocate more easily later if needed.
“People may not be ready to leave France today,” said Sandrine Genet of Carat Capital, “but moving assets gives them a head start if they decide to.”
Even older investors are hedging their bets. “One wealthy couple in their eighties told me they were worried the Socialists were coming to power and wanted to move 20% of their assets to Switzerland,” a Geneva banker said. “They recently came back — now they’re worried about the far right.”
With both the left and right pushing populist economic agendas and France’s public debt at 113% of GDP, wealth managers say fears of what comes next are driving a new wave of quiet capital flight from Europe’s second-largest economy.
