Italian pension funds are beginning to invest in the Fondo Nazionale Strategico Indiretto (FNSI), a state-backed strategic investment vehicle managed by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), targeting companies with growth potential to support the domestic economy.
Filippo Casagrande, chief of investments at Generali Investment, told IPE that pension funds are backing the Futures Leaders Italia fund, launched by Generali Asset Management under the National Strategic Fund initiative.
The fund focuses on technology, industrial, and design companies with strong internationalisation and earnings growth.
Italy still has a high share of household savings in deposit accounts, fixed income, and debt, and a low allocation to equities – well below the euro zone average and even Japan, according to Generali.
“This implies that there is considerable room for institutional investors to increase their equity investments through instruments such as the National Strategic Fund,” Casagrande added.
The Generali Future Leaders fund held its first closing at the end of January, raising around €123m. It plans to deploy up to 20% of the capital each month to avoid materially affecting prices of lower-cap companies.
“The fund expects to complete the entire portfolio construction within the next five to six months,” Casagrande said.
The FNSI began operations in February, targeting €1bn in total, with CDP contributing half and the remainder coming from institutional investors, including pension funds.
A closed-ended fund of funds, the FNSI can underwrite up to 49% of new funds investing in Italian companies listed on Euronext Milan and Euronext Growth Milan, Borsa Italiana’s main exchanges.
Barbara Lunghi, responsible for primary stock markets at Borsa Italiana, said Consob and CDP have approved funds from Algebris, Amundi, Anima, Arca, Equita, Eurizon Generali, and Miria, the asset manager of Enasarco, to invest in small and mid-caps.
The Anima Italian Strategic Equity fund, also under the National Strategic Fund programme, has already secured commitments from Italian institutional investors and expects investment activity to begin in the second half of 2026.
Long-term perspective
Pension funds are closely monitoring the initiative, which combines a long-term perspective, closed fund structure, and support for the domestic real economy, Simone Ragazzi, portfolio manager at Algebris Investments, told IPE.
Through its fund, Algebris plans to invest in 30-40 companies, mainly mid-caps and selected small and micro-caps with clear business models, solid balance sheets, sustainable cash generation, and management aligned with minority shareholders’ interests.
“We favour companies exposed to major long-term trends – energy transition, electrification, infrastructure, reshoring, digitalisation – with the ability to create value over time,” Ragazzi said.
Italian small and mid-caps, particularly in technology and science sectors, are valued at lower multiples than European peers. Research by Consob and the Catholic University of Milan’s CeTIF showed this reduces SMEs’ ability to raise capital and encourages delisting.
The launch of the National Strategic Fund, alongside growing flows to Individual Savings Plans (PIRs), support for European Long-Term Investment Funds (Eltifs), and a stronger role for pension funds and insurers, could channel more capital into SMEs, the study suggested.
“The Italian stock market continues to be valued at lower multiples than other countries, reflecting risk perceptions and structural characteristics rather than fundamentals,” Casagrande said.
