Fonchim picks managers for €2.71bn in mandates

Fonchim, the €9.2bn Italian pension fund for the chemical sector, has appointed a number of managers to oversee €2.71bn in new mandates spanning equities and fixed income.

According to its 2024 management report, Fonchim selected AXA Investment Managers and Candriam to manage assets within its ‘Stabilità’ sub-fund, focusing on pan-European government bonds and debt issued by supranational organisations. Pimco has been awarded a mandate to manage global government bond investments.

Eurizon Capital has been appointed to manage a balanced/equity portfolio within the same sub-fund, while UBS Asset Management will run a passive global balanced strategy for the pension fund’s ‘Crescita’ sub-fund, investing across sovereign and corporate bonds, as well as European, global and emerging market equities.

The pension fund – which originally tendered the mandates last September – said it is in the final stages of concluding agreements with the selected managers.

Separately, Fonchim has reviewed several mandates that expired in February. Within its ‘Stabilità’ sub-fund, it renewed State Street Global Advisors’ passive equity mandate, BlackRock’s global corporate bond mandate, and Payden & Rygel’s emerging market debt mandate for a further five years, citing benchmark-relative performance.

However, it has retendered a pan-European government bond mandate previously managed by Ostrum, due to underperformance, while renewing similar mandates run by Groupama. Eurizon’s global government bond mandate has also been put out to tender, while Generali Investments’ equivalent strategy was renewed.

Equity balanced mandates run by Anima and Amundi have been extended, whereas AXA IM’s has been retendered.

In the ‘Crescita’ sub-fund, the passive global balanced mandate previously held by Credit Suisse Asset Management has been retendered, while Anima’s mandate in the same area was extended by five years.

Fonchim noted that most asset managers accepting mandate renewals agreed to slight fee reductions. Groupama, however, opted to exit the Italian government bond mandate space, citing insufficient profitability.

In private markets, the scheme has appointed Neuberger Berman to invest €115m in private equity and infrastructure via European-focused Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), starting 1 April.

The investments will target lower-risk strategies in both asset classes, with an emphasis on core and core-plus infrastructure and a deliberate exclusion of distressed, turnaround, venture capital and opportunistic strategies.

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