Fondenergia, the Italian pension fund for workers in Italy’s energy sector, has mandated Credit Suisse to manage the assets of its ‘garantito’ sub-fund, replacing Amundi.

Credit Suisse’s contract to manage the mandate is until 31 December 2027, with members benefitting from 100% guarantee on contributions, net of outflows for redemptions and management costs, it said.

Members of the garantito sub-fund are signing up for a minimum guaranteed return of 3.5% as of the expiring date of the mandate. Returns are adjusted according to how long members stay in the fund.

The garantito sub-fund recorded a -0.51% return as of December last year, while Fondenergia’s ’bilanciato’ and ‘dinamico’ sub-funds, returned -11.17% and -9.71%, respectively, according to the scheme.

The garantito fund had assets of €211.72m at the end of 2021, out of a total €3.39bn in assets under management for the scheme.

The pension fund has taken tactical investment decisions for listed securities and alternatives to mitigate the impact of market volatility in the medium term following the start of the war in Ukraine, Fondenergia president Mario Vincenzo Cribari said in a letter to members.

It has increased its strategic investment in Bank of Italy, while also starting a multi-year investment plan in Italian infrastructure funds, he added.

Euronext moves clearing activities to Italy

Amsterdam-listed stock exchange Euronext has announced that it will move clearing activities from LCH SA, the subsidiary of the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) in France, to Italy.

It will migrate the listed financial derivatives and commodities markets of Euronext Amsterdam, Euronext Brussels, Euronext Lisbon, Oslo Børs and Euronext Paris from LCH SA to Euronext Clearing by Q3 2024.

It has decided to end the existing agreement with LCH SA, paying a termination fee of close to €36m, and it could sell the 11.4% stake it owns in the LSEG clearing house registered in France.

Euronext has built up clearing activities through the acquisition of Borsa Italia in 2021 that also included Clearing house Cassa di Compensazione e Garanzia (CC&G), renamed Euronext Clearing.

Euronext Clearing plans to continue its expansion this year as Euronext clearing house (CCP) for cash equity, listed derivatives and commodities markets, it said.

Stéphane Boujnah, chief executive officer and chair of the managing board of Euronext, said: “We are pleased to announce that the migration of Euronext derivatives clearing activities to Euronext Clearing is planned for Q3 2024, a few months after the migration of Euronext cash clearing activities.

He added: “Combined with the successful migration of the Core Data Centre to Bergamo in June 2022 and the planned migration of the Borsa Italiana capital markets to Optiq in 2023, the expansion of our clearing activities is a major step towards the delivery our ’Growth for Impact 2024’ strategic plan.”

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