Enpam, Italy’s largest pension scheme with close to €26bn in total assets, is on track to close 2024 with better than expected results bolstered by invested assets netting approximately €826m, overturning previous deficit forecasts, the scheme said in a note.
The scheme will end the current year with a budget surplus of €484m, a result that overturns the previous outlook of a deficit amounting to €84m, it added.
The improvement of €568m, compared with the previous forecast is mainly a consequence of an “excellent performance” of the assets managed that led to a cash-in of almost €826m, Enpam said.
The previous forecast for 2024 pointed at returns on investments amounting to €628.06m net.
Figures for 2024 on expenses for pension payouts and contributions have also had a positive impact on the scheme’s budget.
Expenses for pensions in 2024 still exceed income from contributions.
However, income from contributions stood at €3.7bn this year, around €270m more than expected previously, while benefits paid out amount to €3.9bn, €100m less than expected, Enpam added in the note.
“These numbers are a credit to the work done to keep the pensions of doctors and dentists safe,” said Enpam’s president Alberto Oliveti.
He added that a sound investment strategy is essential to prepare the scheme for the next challenging years that will see a generation of doctors retiring.
This year, Enpam has reviewed its investment approach splitting the portfolio into two macro strategies.
One part of the scheme’s assets are held in its Liability Hedging Portfolio, with a strategy aimed at managing solvency risks, investing with a long-term view to pay pensions, and generate cash flows, with another part of the assets diversified across asset classes, invested to generate returns.
An already challenging 2025
Enpam has also approved the outlook for its 2025 budget, expecting a deficit of approximately €252m.
The outlook was drafted considering liabilities that will lead to a further significant increase in pension costs, with an estimated operating deficit for 2025 of €839m, it added.
As for the current fiscal year, Enpam expects that liabilities in 2025 will be offset by the positive performance of assets invested to the amount of €711m next year, it said.
This figure does not include asset value fluctuations or write-downs that Enpam can only disclose once it finalises next year’s financial statement.
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