French insurance company Groupama has sold its private equity operations to a number of buyers including fund of funds ACG Group and banking group Rothschild, as banks and insurers offload alternatives arms ahead of Solvency II.

The move comes as insurance companies - typically strong investors in alternative asset classes - face pressure to reduce their allocations to private equity ahead of the European Union-driven capital adequacy regime Solvency II, which is set to place restrictions on the amount insurers can invest.