Inarcassa, Italy’s first pillar pension scheme for engineers and architects, is cutting its exposure to investment grade corporate bonds in favour of sustainable high-yield bonds.
The scheme announced it has decided to progressively divest its share of assets in euro investment grade corporate bonds as it follows guidelines drafted in its new strategic asset allocation.
Its latest strategy for the period 2025-2029 foresees up to 7% of total assets invested in high-yield bonds, with an option to invest in junk bonds with a rating lower than “B” through Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS).
The new strategy will lead Inarcassa to invest 33.5% of total assets in fixed income and in Bank of Italy stocks. Investments in fixed income include up to 4% of total assets invested in government and emerging markets bonds.
The new strategy balances risks and returns for the stable and sustainable growth of the scheme, aiming to generate “extra profits” to pay out pensions, Inarcassa said in its 2025 financial forecast.
Inarcassa also plans to boost in the next five years its alternative investments by over €900m.
The board of directors proceeded in December with a progressive realignment of the fund’s investment portfolio with its strategic asset allocation, considering investments in the listed stock market with a focus on Italy, and opportunities to allocate assets to private markets in Italy.
As a result, the scheme approved a new round of investments through funds in Italian listed companies, with the option of channelling funds towards Italian small and medium-sized firms to support the domestic economy.
The scheme will invest in private equity, private debt and venture capital funds with a geographical focus on Italy.
In the first month of 2025, Inarcassa’s assets exceeded €16bn, up from just under €15.9bn at the end of December.
The gross operating result for the first weeks of this year is positive at over 0.9%, with an expected return target for the entire year set at 6.1%, it 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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