Lively and concrete discussions at the Seminar organized by Fimit SGR at Forte Village in Sardinia on new processes and investment models for institutional investors.

Alberto Alesina (Economist of the University of Harvard), Dario Scannapieco (Deputy Chairperson Banca Europea degli Investimenti), Samy Gattegno (Deputy Chairperson Confindustria), other important representatives of the Italian pensions industry and financial industry operators provided scenarios and interesting opinions for the identification of solutions to be implemented in the short term.

All the speakers stressed that 2009 will be another difficult year, but in the end the financial markets will come right, thanks more to market forces than to public intervention.

For Alesina in tackling the current situation it is essential to concentrate on problems in order of absolute priority. Excessive attention to environmentalism blocks development, large infrastructures are often monstrous and, in this sense, we must not overestimate the role of public spending on infrastructures and large projects. Another sensitive point is the fact that many Governments are unfortunately replacing private debt with public debt, with the aim of kick-starting the economy.

One of the real priorities today, instead, is solving the problem of the half a million temporary workers, identifying specific supporting actions.

Gattegno instead launched an interesting and innovative idea for aid to medium-sized Italian companies, which was received positively by his audience: ensure that a small part of the immense assets of Private Funds and Pension Funds (of more than € 70 billion) are invested in equities capable of supporting the process of re-launching and developing productive companies (listed and to be listed), including with recourse to innovative investment instruments.

The idea was picked up also by Dario Scannapieco who, in this sense, outlined a scenario of activism of the BEI and the numerous opportunities for synergies with Institutional Investors.

On the real estate front a significant figure emerged: Italian Institutional Investors still love direct investment, that is purchasing buildings directly; the trend in progress in the European scenario is the exact opposite: for example in the Netherlands 80% of real estate investments of pension funds are indirect (that is through real estate funds, investment instruments representing real estate properties), while in Italy this proportion amounts to 9%.

Clearly this is an anomalous situation for our country, which shows signs of a lack of transparency in the market, but at the same time it means that there are ample margins for future growth in view of a necessary and rapid inversion of the trend.

Attaguile, the Chairperson of Presidente della Cassa del Notariato, picked up on Gattegno’s idea to launch transparent vehicles to support the growth of companies.

Brambilla, Chairperson ofNucleo di Valutazione della Spesa Previdenziale, stressed the fact that pensions, in the current context, need to identify innovative instruments, complementary to the current ones in support of welfare. One example is Fondo Senior, a Fimit real estate fund recently launched and destined for the part of the population, in continual growth in Italy, more than 65 years old.

Forte Village, Santa Margherita di Pula
24 April 2009