ROMA – The pandemic did not negatively affect the yields of pension funds, which after the ups and downs of the first months have gradually recovered, in the wake of the financial markets. And therefore also in 2020 the returns of the negotiated funds far exceed those of the severance pay: they earn an average of 3.1%, against a revaluation of workers’ liquidations of 1.2%. Open-end funds also did well, whose yields increased by 2.9%.
While the returns of the new class III PIPs, pension plans, are negative complementary managed by insurance companies and to which it is possible to join regardless of one’s working situation (minus 0.2%). Finally, the segregated management of class I (policies reserved for workers enrolled in the separate management) is a little better, earning 1.4%. The data emerge from the Covip Annual Report, which is presented this morning by President Mario Padula to the Chamber of Deputies.
Realfonzo (Cometa): “Recovery is not enough for a lasting recovery. National savings must be recruited”
by Raffaele Ricciardi
At the end of 2020, the members of the various forms of supplementary pension had reached 8.4 million, one third of Italian workers. In 2020, contributions of 16 and a half billion euros were collected, with an increase of 2.2% compared to the previous year. Men are in the majority, 61% of the members. Furthermore, there are also strong geographical differences: 57% of the members reside in Northern Italy.
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There is also a strong generation gap: the overwhelming majority of members is made up of intermediate age groups and close to retirement. In fact, 51.6% are between 35 and 54 years old, while 31% are at least 55 years old. A figure that confirms the difficulties of those who start working, who perhaps because of the discontinuity of contracts and the initial level of wages are unable to plan the supplementary pension with serenity.
“The progress of the vaccination campaign and the improvement of epidemiological data allow us to look to the future with cautious optimism. The human and economic costs of the pandemic are still too high, therefore making it necessary to have a high degree of attention for the months to come”, he observes. Padula. According to Covip the repercussions of the pandemic for the Italian supplementary pension system were on the whole quite limited.
In fact, the annual report states that “from an organizational point of view, the sector reacted promptly by resorting to remote work and strengthening the telematic channels for exchanging information with companies, financial managers and service providers, with The collection of contributions continued on a regular basis, maintaining its upward trend and showing a slight decline in aggregate data only in the second quarter of 2020; on the expenditure side, there were no tensions in requests for advances and redemptions. at the end of the year, thanks to the recoveries recorded by the markets, the financial management results were positive “.
At the end of 2020, there were 372 pension funds in Italy: 33 negotiated funds, 42 open funds, 71 individual pension plans (Pip) and 226 pre-existing funds; FondInps is no longer included in the total following its abolition and the transfer to the Cometa fund of the positions of members and future severance pay flows. The number of pension schemes operating in the system is constantly decreasing. Over twenty years ago, in 1999, there were 739 forms, almost double: over time, therefore, there has been a strong concentration.
As for the investments of pension funds, Covip says that 38.6 billion euros are used in the Italian economy, 23.8% of assets. Government bonds represent the largest share, € 28.4 billion. Furthermore, the allocation of investments records the prevalence of the share in government bonds and other debt securities, for 56.1% of assets: 17.5% are Italian public debt securities. Equities increased to 19.6% (compared to 18.9% in 2019) and also UCI shares, which went from 14.8 to 15.5%. Deposits stood at 6.6%. Real estate investments, directly and indirectly, present almost exclusively in pre-existing funds, represent approximately 2% of assets, substantially stable compared to 2019.
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