SCPI (PGA) vs CAC 40 GR
French collective rental property measured on total annual performance — rents distributed plus the change in the unit price — against the French stock market with dividends reinvested. The comparison is instructive on one condition: understanding that the price of an SCPI unit is not a market price. It is set by the management company from valuations, and that changes everything the chart appears to say about risk.
Over the period both series share, CAC 40 GR comes out ahead at +7.6% a year.
| Asset | Total return | Annualised | Volatility | Largest drawdown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SCPI (Loyers réinvestis) | +708.9% | +5.8% a year | 7.0% | −32.7% (December 1997) |
| CAC 40 GR | ×16.0 | +7.6% a year | 18.6% | −59.4% (April 2003) |
Figures calculated on 26/10/2026 from monthly closing prices. Past performance is no guide to future performance.
A valuation, not a market price
A listed share has a price every second, settled between buyers and sellers. An SCPI unit is not listed: its value is established from an annual expert valuation of the buildings held, and the subscription price is revised only occasionally, within an authorised band around that value.
The consequence is important and counter-intuitive: an SCPI curve looks far calmer than an equity curve, and its reported volatility is very low. That calm is partly an artefact of measurement — a property revalued once a year cannot display the jolts of a continuously traded asset, even if its economic value has moved in the meantime. Reading that low volatility as low exposure to risk is the mistake to avoid here.
What the curve leaves out
Costs first. Entering an SCPI carries a subscription fee of anywhere from a few per cent to nearly ten, recovered only after several years of holding. The rents shown are net of management fees, but a real holder starts well below the curve and stays there for the first years.
Liquidity next. Selling a unit means finding a buyer; the management company organises the market but does not guarantee it, and delays lengthen precisely when many holders want out at once. A CAC 40 share sells in a second, at a price you may dislike — an SCPI unit may not sell at all for months.
Tax last, and it differs radically: SCPI income is property income, taxed at the income-tax scale and subject to social levies, where shares can sit inside a PEA. Neither curve accounts for any of this.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the SCPI curve so smooth?
Because it rests on periodic valuations rather than continuous trading. The smoothness of the line is first of all a property of the valuation method, not an absence of risk.
Why does the series stop before the others?
Data for this market is published once a year. The latest available value is therefore several months behind that of listed assets, and the comparison ends where the shorter of the two series ends.
Are the rents reinvested?
Yes, that is the convention of this series, and it is what makes it comparable with the CAC 40 GR. A holder who spends the rents instead of reinvesting them follows a very different path.
What does total annual performance measure?
It adds the two sources of return on an SCPI: the distribution rate paid during the year, and the change in the unit price. It is the property equivalent of what "GR" adds to the CAC 40 — without it you would be counting only the rents, or only the value of the buildings.