Italy’s pension regulator COVIP has introduced a new contribution structure to fund its supervisory activities, shifting the basis of payments from contribution flows to assets under management in a move intended to distribute costs more evenly across supplementary pension schemes.
Under a resolution adopted by COVIP, supplementary pension schemes – including industry-wide pension funds (fondi negoziali), open pension funds, pre-existing pension funds and individual pension plans – will pay 0.06‰ of total assets under management as at December 2025. The regulator said total assets stood at €261.2bn.
Previously, pension funds paid a levy of 0.5‰ based on annual contribution flows, which amounted to €17.4bn at the end of 2025.
COVIP president Mario Pepe told Milano Finanza that the new approach introduces a principle of greater equity among supplementary pension schemes.
According to Pepe, large pre-existing pension funds sponsored by banks were effectively exempt from paying supervisory fees under the previous system because they no longer received significant new contributions and mainly paid pension benefits.
As a result, open pension funds, insurance-based individual pension plans and industry-wide pension funds bore most of the cost of funding the regulator.
The shift to an asset-based levy is likely to increase COVIP’s revenues compared with the previous mechanism, particularly affecting larger and more mature pension funds with substantial accumulated assets.
Claudio Pinna, head of wealth consulting in Italy at Aon, described the change as “a bit puzzling”.
“The fee is lower, but altering the reference parameter increases the revenues for COVIP, and impacts the costs borne by pension fund members.”
“Ultimately, the pension system relies on trust, and changes of this nature do not help strengthen it,” he added.
Pinna said the impact would be most significant for schemes with large pools of accrued savings.
“The situation will be more favourable for new members who, in all likelihood, will be the younger, perhaps offering yet another reason to join a pension fund,” he said.
The change also comes as Italy expands the role of supplementary pensions and broadens COVIP’s responsibilities.
Measures included in this year’s budget law introduce auto-enrolment for new hires, lifecycle investment strategies as the default option for pension savings, greater portability of employer contributions and increased flexibility in pension benefit withdrawals.
At the same time, COVIP is gaining additional powers to supervise supplementary healthcare funds.
