Italy
IMF chief warns of 'lost decade'
CHINA - The head of the IMF pleaded with China to support the eurozone as she warned the global economy is heading for a "lost decade".
SSgA secures $184m from two Italian pensions
ITALY - BNL/BNP Paribas Employees' Pension Fund has hired State Street Global Advisors to run an €82m ($113m) custom fixed income mandate while the Cariplo Pension Fund renewed a European equity mandate worth $71m.
State Street strengthens Italian presence following successful acquisition
ITALY - State Street has strengthened its European presence with the opening of two new offices in Milan and Turin, Italy. The move is part of the company's successful integration efforts with Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP) which has a presence in both Italy and...
Italian pensions starting to move on activist shareholding
Raquel Pichardo-Allison reports on a new wave of activism starting to swell in Italy
Mercer makes leadership changes to Italy business
ITALY - Mercer has strengthened its management team in Italy with four internal appointments.
Pegaso allocates €60m in to SSgA
ITALY - Fondo Previdenziale Pegaso, the pension fund for employees in the Italian utility services, has hired State Street Global Advisors to run a €60m (US$76m) active fixed income mandate.
Italy raises retirement age by three years
ITALY - The Italian government has raised the retirement age by three years as part of sweeping austerity measures.
Alitalia Airlines trustees agree buy-in deal
UK/ITALY - The Alitalia Italian Airlines Pension and Assurance Scheme has entered into a pension insurance buy-in with Pension Insurance Corporation with a deficit of more than £22m (US$33.7m).
Italian managers unprepared for governance rules
Italy - Just a quarter of Italian asset managers are prepared for the imminent introduction of new governance rules, research by BC Dexia reveals.
Italian government drafts new pension age increase plan
ITALY - The Italian government today will present to parliament an amended law to increase female public servants pension age to 65 by 2012, as required by the European Commission.
EC to Italy: Equalise pension age by 2012
ITALY - The European Commission has once again put pressure on Italy to equalise the pension age of men and women, asking the country to move up its plans to have employees retiring at the same age by six years to 2012.
EC renews legal action against Italy on discriminatory pension age
EUROPE/ITALY - The European Commission has issued a new request for Italy to move swiftly to equalise the retirement age for men and women.
Italian pension funds under-estimate transition management
As Italy has largely ignored transition management, Giovanni Legorano looks at the reasons for this and asks if this is set to change in the near future
Cometa completes asset manager overhaul
ITALY - The €5.2bn (US$6.4bn) Fondo Cometa has hired nine managers and completed the renewal of mandates for its Monetario Plus, Reddito and Crescita sub-funds due to expire this year.
State Street closes €1.28bn acquisition of ISPSS
ITALY - State Street Corp. has completed its €1.28bn (US$1.6bn) cash purchase of Intesa Sanpaolo's Securities Services business (ISPSS), including the firm's custody and fund administration units.
Fini calls for pension safety net
ITALY - The speaker for Italian members of Parliament Gianfranco Fini has called for the creation of a pension safety net for corporate and multiemployer schemes to encourage membership into second pillar pensions.
Schroders: Italy's second pillar strongest form of saving
ITALY - The financial crisis has shown the relative strength of the country's second pillar pension system in comparison with other forms of savings, Schroders' head of distribution for Italy Luca Tenani has said.
PensPlan Centrum up 13% in 2009
ITALY - Italian pension fund service provider PensPlan Centrum posted a 13% profit for 2009 on the back of equity gains.
Italian pensions review asset structures
ITALY - Italian schemes are increasingly reviewing their asset allocation and looking to offer lifestyling arrangements to their members in the wake of the losses incurred during the crisis, Towers Watson managing consultant for Italy Fabio Carniol said....
Italian schemes adopting fiduciary management
ITALY ¬- Italian pension funds have been increasingly looking at fiduciary management solutions in the first quarter of this year, BlackRock head of Italian institutional business Alberto Salato said.
Cometa awards €620m investment mandate
ITALY - Fondo Cometa has awarded two separate investment mandates for an overall value of €620m (US$836.7m) to Unipol Gruppo Finanziario (UGF) and Cattolica Assicurazioni (CA).
Cometa awards BNP Paribas a €5bn custodian mandate
ITALY - Italy's largest pension fund Fondo Cometa has appointed BNP Paribas as its new custodian for its €5bn (US$6.8bn) portfolio.
Swisscanto eyes Italy for expansion
SWITZERLAND/ITALY/UK - Swisscanto is planning a move into the Italian pension market after a recent expansion into the UK, a company official said.
Fon.Te tenders for €900m mandates
ITALY - The pension fund for tourism, commerce and service sector workers (Fon.Te) launched manager searches for two of its defined contribution funds for mandates worth €900m (US$1.2bn).
