Cometa picks AXA, Amundi as new asset managers in overhaul worth €11bn

Cometa, the Italian supplementary pension fund for the metal industry, has appointed Amundi and AXA Investment Managers as new asset managers in a mandate overhaul for its ‘Monetario Plus’, ‘Reddito’ and ‘Crescita’ sub-funds worth close to €11bn.

The scheme has tendered the mandates for the three sub-funds following a review of its investment policy leading to an increase of the risk profile of its three sub-funds while maintaining a prudent approach, it said.

The pension fund has decided to strip State Street Global Advisors (SSGA), Candriam and Groupama Asset Management of their mandates during the manager selection process.

The Italian supplementary pension fund, with assets worth over €13bn in total, has awarded mandates for its ‘Monetario Plus’ sub-fund to Allianz Global Investors and Eurizon Capital.

The mandates will be run by Eurizon, Groupama and Allianz GI until 31 December 2022, according to a note filed by Cometa with pension regulator COVIP on 29 March.

Allianz GI and Eurizon will manage the assets through two types of bond mandates worth €615m. Members of the ‘Monetary Plus’ sub-fund are close to retirement, and the goal is to keep nominal capital intact on a time horizon not exceeding five years.

Cometa has also picked Allianz GI, Amundi, AXA, BlackRock, Credit Suisse and Eurizon to manage its ’Reddito’ sub-fund assets.

The mandates are currently in the hands of Allianz GI, Credit Suisse, BlackRock, SSGA, and Candriam until the end of this year, according to the filings.

The pension fund assigned six multi-asset total return mandates worth €1.6bn for the ’Reddito’ sub-fund, which has a goal to achieve a return in line with the revaluation of the severance pay Trattamento di Fine Rapporto (TFR) over a period of six to 10 years.

For its ‘Crescita’ sub-fund, Cometa has renewed contracts with BlackRock, switching Allianz GI with Eurizon.

The scheme has awarded two multi-asset mandates worth €612m for the Crescita sub-fund with active benchmarks, aiming to maximise returns over a period of at least 10 years.

The mandates for the sub-fund ‘TRF Silente’ and ‘Sicurezza 2020’, both run by Generali Italia, will last until 31 May 2030, according to Cometa’s filings.

The pension fund also looked at the integration of ESG standards and its sustainability policy during the asset manager selection process.

Chair Riccardo Realfonso said the evaluation of the importance of ESG components for the asset managers “played a central role” in order to assign the mandates.

He added: “It is in the interest of the members not only the return on their savings but also the sustainability of the investments they make through the savings.”

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