ITALY- The €2bn pension fund of industrial managers, Fondo Pensione Previndai, is to create two portfolios run by five external equity and bond fund managers as an alternative to its insurance contracts.

Sebastiaan Schrikker, director of institutional advisory at Banca Gesfid, which is consultant to Previndai, told IPE that the Rome-based fund was searching for investment managers for its mandates starting next year covering euro and global bonds and European, US and Italian equities.

Previndai will create two portfolios: the first with up to 75% in equities with the rest in bonds and a second with up to 40% in equities and the remaining part in bonds. Schrikker also said the selection process, which closes next month, would lead to the creation of a “reserve bench” of managers, who would be required to report to the consultant on their investment policies.

The managers’ reserve bench has been devised as a way to replace asset managers without starting a new process of request for tenders, he added. “Investment managers shall not be allowed to delegate management mandates to third parties outside their company or group,” Schrikker said.

Currently, Previndai only allows its members to save through an insurance policy for their retirement but in the future they could invest in the two portfolios Schrikker stressed that the adoption of the second option would not lead to the dismissal of the insurance companies involved with Previndai. “Insurance companies will not be substituted,” he said.

According to the International Pension Funds and their advisors 2003, Previndai employes RAS Asset Management SGR Spa, Inavita, SAI, Toro Assicurazioni, Societa’ Reale Mutua, Lloyd Adriatico, Generali Asset Management, La Fondiaria Assicurazioni, Milano Assicurazioni.

The members will be asked to decide whether to keep insurance policies, shift to the new pension fund option or start a hybrid arrangement including both options.

Previndai will actively consult with members, suggesting the most convenient solution, which will not always imply investing contributions in the new pension option. The volume of contributions diverted to the five asset classes had yet to be decided as a result, he added.

www.previndai.it
Questionnaires must be returned to the fund by July 20th, by 1pm, in a sealed envelope, containing two signed copies on paper, and two electronic copies on individual discs, addressed to the attention of Dottor Franco Di Giovambattsta, Previndai, Via Palermo 8, 00184 Roma.
They should be clearly marked "Investment Manager Search".


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