Non-French managers won the lion's share of the second stage of selection of France's €16bn ($19.6bn) Fonds de Réserve pour les Retraites, with €2.2bn of firm mandates and three out of four stand-by contracts.

The move should allay the fears of some foreign fund managers, who were upset when French firms were awarded an overwhelming majority of the first set of mandates, which were awarded earlier this year.