Cassa dei Dottori Commercialisti (CDC), Italy’s €12.5bn pension scheme for chartered accountants, is seeking an asset manager to invest up to €100m in listed Italian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to support the domestic economy.

The pension fund is assessing investment opportunities in Undertakings for Collective Investments in Transferable Securities (UCITS) that allocate capital to SMEs listed on the Milan Stock Exchange.

With the upcoming allocation, CDC aims to generate long-term value, support domestic economic growth and reinforce the capitalisation of Italian companies, the pension fund said, explaining the rationale for the investment.

CDC has launched a tender to appoint an asset manager with at least €250m in assets under management (AUM) to invest in listed Italian SMEs through closed-ended UCITS, and with at least €550m AUM to invest via open-ended UCITS, according to the tender document.

The deadline for applications is 31 March.

CDC added that strategies launched under the National Strategic Fund – Fondo Nazionale Strategico Indiretto (FNSI) – promoted by the Ministry of Economy and Finance and managed by state-owned investment bank Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, will also be eligible to participate in the manager selection process.

Italy’s securities market regulator Consob has so far approved six UCITS funds linked to the FNSI, focusing on SMEs listed on Borsa Italiana, with further approvals likely to follow, said Francesco De Astis, head of Italian equity at asset manager Eurizon.

Asset managers, including Amundi, Allianz Global Investors, Generali Investments and Azimut, have signed confidentiality agreements with the ministry and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) to manage funds under the FNSI umbrella, seeking to raise capital from pension funds.

By investing in listed Italian SMEs, CDC follows other first- and second-pillar pension funds increasingly targeting companies with a market capitalisation of less than €1bn as a source of additional returns.

Inarcassa has invested €90m in domestic SMEs, while Fondo Gomma Plastica, Foncer, Pegaso and Previmoda have appointed Anima to invest €82m in the same segment.

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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