Fondo Pensione Cometa, the Italian supplementary pension fund for the metal industry with €14bn in total assets, has decided to increase guarantees in its sub-fund ‘Garantito Sicurezza 2020’, as it looks to up investments in fixed income, it announced today.

The scheme will pay back 100% of the amount of capital paid by members in the sub-fund at the end of the mandate with Generali Investments, the sub-fund manager, on 31 May 2030, it said.

Moreover, Cometa is also reinforcing guarantees given to members during the saving phase, before the end of the mandate with the asset manager.

It will pay in full contributions to members incurring health problems, requesting an early pension to pay for healthcare expenses.

Previously, the scheme offered a 75% guarantee for early pension requests to pay for healthcare, according to a note filed by Cometa with pension regulator COVIP at the end of last year.

Cometa will also offer the full guarantee in case of death and permanent disability of a member, from 85% offered previously, it added. Members will be able to redeem 93% of the capital saved, instead of 85%, in the case of unemployment exceeding 48 months.

The new levels of guarantee have been in place since 1 January, the scheme said, adding that it negotiated them with asset manager Generali.

Increasing guarantees means that the manager will increase investments in fixed income, cutting equity allocations, taking into account the new market environment, it said.

The pension fund for the workers in the Veneto region, Solidarietà Veneto, took the same path with a higher interest rate, giving members of its own ‘Garantito’ sub-fund full guarantee on contributions paid.

The scheme has replaced Generali with Anima and Great Lakes Insurance, the subsidiary of Munich Re, to manage the assets in the sub-fund.

Riccardo Realfonso, Cometa’s president, said: “A changing market environment has now led us to redefine and expand the guarantees [offered by our sub-fund Garantito], together with the manager Generali.”

The new approach is in response to the demand of workers, who are inclined to take lower risks, but want to invest their supplementary pensions capital, he said.

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Luigi is IPE's Berlin-based DACH correspondent. His coverage includes regulation and the latest pensions and investments trends, and, being a native Italian, he also covers Italy’s pensions market. He has reported from Italy and Germany on international politics and business for European and US publications including USA Today, Bloomberg BNA and for the investigative magazine L’Espresso. He was previously Germany correspondent for Mergermarket covering M&A.View full Profile

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