The board of directors for the pension fund for self-employed engineers and architects, Inarcassa, has approved a proposal for a new strategic asset allocation plan for the five-year period 2021-25.

Under the new strategy, allocation to equities will slightly decrease to fend off an uptick in market volatility, while investments in the real economy will increase.

Inarcassa’s total assets stood at around €11.2bn at the end of October, compared with €11.5bn at the end of 2019.

Its investment portfolio last year invested 20.2% in government bonds, 5% in other debt securities, 13.3% in equities, 27.5% in undertakings for collective investments in transferable securities (UCITS), 15.9% in real estate funds, 8% in other mutual investment funds and the remainder in real estate properties. It held 8.5% in a liquidity portfolio as well.

Byblos tenders dinamico fund mandate

Byblos, the second pillar scheme for the paper, publishing and media industries, has tendered a mandate to manage the assets of its ‘dinamico’ fund. The contract will last until 30 June 2025.

The investment range for equities and bonds may vary from a minimum of 35% to a maximum of 65%. Investment in corporate bonds will have a maximum limit of 30%, while investment in corporate (or government) high yield bonds will have a maximum limit of 10%. The limits refer to the overall portfolio.

Byblos pension fund is divided intp three sub-funds: ‘garantito’, ‘bilanciato’ and ‘dinamico’. Net assets for pension provisions at the scheme amounted to approximately €18m at the end of August 2020. The balance between annual contributions and net disbursements amounted to approximately €2.5m in 2020.

BNL pension fund picks AIFs for infrastructure

The pension fund of the BNL Group BNP Paribas bank has chosen two closed-end alternative investment funds (AIFs) specialised in infrastructure investments. One fund has a geographical focus on Italy, while the other on Europe.

For Italy, BNL has selected the infrastructures fund for ESG growth (Fondo Infrastrutture per la crescita-ESG), which invests in social infrastructures pursuing ESG goals and it is managed by Azimut Libera Impresa.

For Europe, BNL has picked the Pan-European Infrastructure III fund managed by DWS Alternatives Global Limited.

The pension fund started the screening process for the AIFs in June for a total investment amount of €30m. The Italian AIF would invest in health services, education and transport, excluding the energy sector. The European AIF would invest directly in companies operating infrastructure in the communication, transport, energy production and health facilities sectors.

UniCredit fund merges with former CariTrieste plan

The former CariTrieste Fund, the pension scheme for the employees of the former Cassa di Risparmio di Trieste Banca SpA, has merged with the pension plan for the employees of UniCredit Group, effective 1 October.

Total assets for the UniCredit scheme totalled €4.1bn at the end of 2019, serving more than 42,000 members. The fund invested 27.28% of its assets in corporate bonds, 24.89% in government bonds, 16.24% in equities, 14.52% in real estate, 12.52% in alternatives, and the remainder in a liquidity brief.

To read the digital edition of IPE’s latest magazine click here.