Italian doctors’ scheme Enpam and Fondo Fon.Te, the pension fund for Italy’s commerce, tourism and service sector workers, are pressing on with investments in private markets.

Enpam plans to invest €290m in private equity, venture capital and private debt, and has started to tender three mandates for asset manager companies selecting Alternative Investments Funds (AIFs) for private market investments.

The pension fund will invest €190m in private equity through buyout/growth strategies with a focus mainly on Italy (at least 70%).

Participating asset managers would have a minimum €300m in assets under management (AUM) and a minimum fundraising target of €150m.

Enpam plans to invest €50m in venture capital funds through fund of funds/direct funds, again with a focus on Italy (at least 70%).

The scheme will pick asset management companies with a minimum €200m in AUM and a fundraising target of at least €100m.

Enpam’s €50m mandate in private debt will invest mainly in Italy through closed ended fund/AIFs, mandating asset managers with minimum AUM of €300m and a fundraising target of €150m, or above that sum.

Fondo Fon.Te has also decided to invest €380m in private markets, including private equity, private debt, infrastructure and venture capital funds, according to the scheme’s first annual report for 2022 introduced in December.

The scheme will target investments in private markets tilted towards impact investing, R&D and ESG, mainly in Italy.

Fon.Te has already invested €20m in private equity and private debt funds set up and managed by the Fondo Italiano d’Investimento, the asset management company of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti.

Maurizio Grifoni, Fon.Te’s president, said: “The first annual report is an important and new event for us. Among other things, it has led to the start of a constructive dialogue with the institutions and brought out the important role of the fund for supplementary pensions, providing useful food for thought.”

Anna Maria Selvaggio, the fund’s general manager, added: “With the first annual report we have highlighted how the fund and all the subjects involved in providing supplementary pensions can contribute to the growth of our country, through sustainable investments in the real economy.”

With AUM of €5bn, Fon.Te caters for over 39,000 member companies and almost 255,000 beneficiaries, with an average annual increase in memberships of 4%, it said.

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