Italian pension fund Fopen has appointed Schroders to manage a €120m private equity mandate, while also boosting its exposure to private debt as part of its broader strategy to shield its portfolio from market volatility linked to global trade tensions.

Schroders will deploy the capital in Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) investing globally, with a particular focus on European mid-cap companies. The mandate is also intended to raise the fund’s exposure to Italian companies to a level significantly above that of global public equity indices, it was announced.

The pension scheme, which serves employees of energy firm Enel, said it continues to monitor capital markets closely in light of uncertainties surrounding US trade policy.

While it cannot intervene directly in asset managers’ decisions, Fopen is exploring measures to mitigate the impact of current market conditions and to position its portfolio to benefit from a potential recovery in equity prices.

In this context, the pension fund is pressing ahead with its private markets investment programme, which it said offers diversification and downside protection during periods of market stress.

Fopen has also committed a further €105m to private debt through Progetto Zefiro (Project Zephyr), a consortium established by industry-wide defined contribution (DC) pension schemes that initially committed €215m.

StepStone, the project’s asset manager, will invest the capital in AIFs globally, with the strategy now targeting European Long-Term Investment Funds (ELTIFs).

Private market investments are made via Fopen’s ‘Bilanciato Obbligazionario’ sub-fund, which manages €1.5bn – half of the pension scheme’s total assets.

According to the pension fund’s latest financial statement, 5% of the sub-fund is allocated to private equity, including a mandate awarded to Ardian in 2019 and a direct investment in the Private Equity Italia fund-of-funds managed by Fondo Italiano di Investimento.

A further 5% of the sub-fund is allocated to private debt, while 1% is invested in infrastructure via a separate mandate.

Fopen’s new private equity and private debt mandates are expected to become operational in the coming weeks.

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Luigi is IPE's Berlin-based DACH correspondent. His coverage includes regulation and the latest pensions and investments trends, and, being a native Italian, he also covers Italy’s pensions market. He has reported from Italy and Germany on international politics and business for European and US publications including USA Today, Bloomberg BNA and for the investigative magazine L’Espresso. He was previously Germany correspondent for Mergermarket covering M&A.View full Profile

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