ITALY – Fondapi, the newly licensed pension fund for small and medium companies, is looking for three asset managers for a total of 56 million euros in mandates.

The mandate is to be split into three profiles: 16.8 million euros, 30% of the mandates, is to be invested in bonds. The rest is to be split into two global mandates, each worth 35%, a spokesman for the fund explained.

Of the two balanced mandates, 20% is to be invested in equities, benchmarked against MSCI, and 80% in bonds benchmarked against the SSB EGBI.

The global asset allocation should be split between equities in developed countries, 14%, and eurobonds, 86%.

Candidates are required to fill a form in Italian, available on the fund’s internet site. The closing date is April 8.

International asset managers are required to be fluent in Italian and must prove knowledge of national pension laws.

“It is not only a question of speaking the language to start a relationship with the fund’s representatives, but also to prove that the international manager can get on with the local laws, which might be different from those regulating pension funds in other European countries,” the spokesman said.

Fondapi will shortlist nine candidates, three for the bond mandate and six for the two balanced ones.

The fund, which has about 24,000 members, might be able to name the winners between October and December 2004, depending on how long the pension regulator, Covip, takes to sanction the choice.

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