Asset allocation principles and eligible investments
Article 22
1. Sufficient diversification among and within all asset classes shall be assured to reduce investment risks. In principle, the riskier or less liquid an asset, the less concentrated the exposure shall be. 2. The assets may achieve exposure to different asset classes and diversification via investments in collective investment undertakings or exchange-traded products. 3. The assets shall be invested only in the following asset classes, which shall be denominated in euro: (a) money market assets; (b) fixed income securities; (c) regulated collective investments in debt and equity. 4. The assets shall achieve exposure to the asset classes referred to in paragraph 3 through investment in the following instruments or by engaging in the following operations: (a) deposits; (b) money market instruments and money market funds which offer daily liquidity, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2017/1131 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 16 ) ; (c) debt instruments, such as bonds, bills and notes, and securitised instruments in accordance with the simple, transparent and standardised criteria established by Regulation (EU) 2017/2402 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 17 ) ; (d) collective investment undertakings covered by Directive 2009/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 18 ) , including exchange-traded funds which invest in equity or in debt instruments where maximum losses cannot exceed amounts invested; (e) repurchase agreements in accordance with the principle established by Article 215(2) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509; (f) reverse repurchase agreements; (g) securities lending operations with recognised clearing systems, including Clearstream and Euroclear, or with leading financial institutions specialising in that type of operation. 5. Derivatives in the form of forward and future contracts and swaps shall be used solely for the purposes of efficient portfolio management and not for the purposes of speculation or leveraging of positions. Those derivatives may be used for adjustment of duration, mitigation of credit or other relevant risk or changes in asset allocation consistent with the investment strategy. 6. The assets may be invested in liquid money market assets and bonds denominated in US dollars issued by sovereign and supranational entities provided they are invested for the sole purposes of diversification and exposure to another interest rate curve. Any currency risk shall be hedged by making appropriate use of swaps or other instruments for foreign exchange hedging, in accordance with paragraph 5. 7. The Commission may, in accordance with the rules on the delegation of budget implementation powers referred to in Article 60 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509, enlarge the scope of eligible investments to include other asset classes and investment operations that are consistent with the investment strategy and objectives, as well as currencies of other advanced economies, as listed by the International Monetary Fund and subject to hedging of currency risk. Any decision to include new asset classes or investment operations, or currencies of other advanced economies, shall be supported by a substantiated justification per asset class, operation or currency, of how the expanded investment possibilities will enhance the risk-return performance of the assets. That justification shall include an assessment of the operational capacities needed to support those expanded investment possibilities.