The pension fund of Italian bank Unicredit is closing down its sub-funds Alternative and Alternative Private Debt to reorganise investments according to asset classes, it stated in its 2022 financial statement.
During the process the scheme will transfer infrastructure and real estate funds from the Alternative sub-fund to its Real Estate sub-fund, it added.
Other measures to take to close down the sub-funds are the “write off” of accounts with a small or close to zero value, and divest from certain liquid funds, the report noted.
Unicredit gives its members the option of redemption for the other assets not affected by write-offs or divestments, in its defined benefit (DB) plans and in three defined contribution (DC) sub-funds – Line 3 anni, Linea 10 anni and Linea 15 anni – to directly transfer assets to the pension fund.
The fund for alternative investments Effepilux Sif-Sicav fund, owned by Unicredit, and including the sub-funds Alternative and Alternative Private Debt, will become a real estate Alternative Investment Fund (AIF), according to Unicredit.
The scheme pursues diversification of real estate investments internationally, mainly focusing on Europe and North America, and in the residential, offices, logistics and large-scale distribution sectors.
It invests in private equity funds with a default lifespan of between five and 20 years, with an average of around 10-12 years, and in private debt, bonds or debt instruments, also indirectly in funds specialising in lending to companies, in developed markets and above all in companies operating in Italy or in main European countries, ther erport added.
Unicredit pension fund also owns Effepilux Sicav investing through seven sub-funds in short-term investments, government and inflation-linked bonds, investment grade corporate bonds, high yield bonds, emerging market bonds, equity, thematic investments, and liquid alternatives.
On path to recovery
The bank’s pension fund is split into a DC option, the only one open to new members, and the collective capitalisation or DB option.
It invests the assets in the DC plans through the ‘Garatito’ sub-fund, which guarantees members the repayment of contributions paid, and the Linea 3 anni, 10 anni e 15 anni, that have different time horizons and risk profiles.
The sub-schemes have recovered so far this year, with Linea 3 anni returning 1.55%, Linea 10 anni 2.72% and Linea 15 anni 4.25% in H1. The Garantito sub-fund returned 0.51% in the first six months of this year.
Last year, the Garantito sub-fund returned 1.37%, the Linea 3 anni -5.98%, the Linea 10 anni -7.20%, the Linea 15 anni -8.44%, and the severance pay option (Trattamento di Fine Rapporto, TFR) returned 8.28%, according to the report.
Unicredit Group’s pension fund had €4.1bn assets under management at the end of 2022.
It invests €27.75% of its assets in equities, 19.29% in corporate bonds, 17.48% in government bonds, 4.69% in cash, 17.56% in real estate, and 13.24% in alternatives.
The latest digital edition of IPE’s magazine is now available
No comments yet