ITALY - Fondoposte, the complementary pension fund for Italian postal workers, is looking for managers to manage €100m of assets.

The fund, which until now has had its assets managed by its depositary bank Unicredit Banca, has chosen a ‘monocomparto’ or single compartment asset management structure with three lines of investment.

The first line, called Safe, will be invested mainly in bonds, with a 10% limit on equity investment. The benchmark is made up of 5% of an equity index and 95% of a bond index.

This line will provide a guaranteed return, and will account for 25% of the portfolio.

The second line, Dynamic, can invest up to 60% in equities and will have a benchmark of 40% of an equity index and 60% of a bond index. This will account for a further 25% of the assets.

The third line, Balanced, will be able to invest up to 30% in equities, with the rest in fixed income. The benchmark is 20 % of an equity index and 80% of a bond index. This line will account for half the portfolio.

The board of Fondoposte also wants to introduce a line of active monetary management for around 15% of the assets and is looking to appoint a currency overlay manager.

Each line will have one or more managers, Fondoposte said, with a possible increase in the number as the assets grow.

Fondoposte’s managed assets totalled €48m at end of 2005. This will grow to €100m by the end of this year, the fund said, with the addition of members’ contributions, currently worth about €50m a year.

The number of members is expected to grow to 38,000 by the end of this year, out of a potential pool of 150,000.

Fondoposte said that tenders should be submitted by August 3.

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