Previndai, the Italian industry-wide pension fund for companies’ managers, has picked Mercer as its new advisor, with the task review the strategy asset allocation (SAA) of its ‘Bilanciato’ and ‘Sviluppo’ sub-funds.

The scheme plans to finalise the assessment of the SAA for both sub-funds, investing in equities, bonds, and private markets, after the closing of the 2023 fiscal year, to involve the new advisor, Mercer, in the process, the scheme disclosed in its 2023 annual report.

The scheme could also consider setting up a new sub-fund, investing with a cautious approach, and a life-cycle option, it added.

Additionally, Previndai is close to reaching a 10% allocation to alternative investments, in line with its SAA, with the possibility of allocating up to 50% in Italy, it noted.

The scheme’s chief financial officer, Alessandro Ciucci, told IPE in a previous interview that the sub-funds would have a “mid to longer-term target” to allocate 10% of its assets to alternatives through alternative investment funds (AIFs).

The scheme’s two existing sub-funds held 19 AIFs last year, for investments in direct lending, private equity and infrastructure.

Capital calls continued last year, reaching approximately €368m, equal to 69% of the overall commitment to private markets of €534m, it added.

Previndai’s SAA model mainly applies to its ‘Bilanciato’ and ‘Sviluppo’ sub-funds, which have total assets amounting to €2.43bn and €1.58bn, respectively, as of the end of last year, according to the annual report.

Both sub-funds ended 2023 with results below its benchmark. The ‘Bilanciato’ sub-fund returned 8.19% net of tax, against its benchmark of 9.22%, and the ‘Sviluppo’ subfund returned 10.89%, against its benchmark of 11.69%.

The scheme’s two insurance sub-funds – ‘Assicurativo 1990’ and ‘Assicurativo 2014’ – account for 72.3% of total assets, corresponding to a value of approximately €10.5bn, it added.

‘Assicurativo 2014’, with approximately €5.8bn in assets, recorded a return before tax last year of 2.41%, which corresponds to a net return of 2.01%. The ‘Assicurativo 1990’ is closed to new members.

The scheme’s total assets stood approximately at €14.50bn at the end of 2023, up from €13.71bn in 2022, the report added.

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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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