Laborfonds, the Italian pension fund for the employees in the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region, will add this year four alternative investment funds (AIFs) to its ‘satellite’ portfolio (‘Linea Bilanciata’), the largest of its sub-funds with €2.78bn in total assets, for an total nominal investment of €80m.
The scheme splits its sub-fund’s assets in a ‘core’ part, manager through so-called “indirect” management, and a ‘satellite’ part, run through a “direct” management approach.
Investment of the ‘satellite’ segment takes place through the acquisition of parts of AIFs, with a strategic quota set at 10% of total assets, it said in the financial statement for 2023.
The new AIFs were not disclosed, but the assets in the ‘satellite’ portfolio, with commitments amounting to €216.06m as of the end of last year, are already invested in:
- Fondo Strategico Trentino Alto Adige – to support small and medium sized firms in the Trentito-Alto Adige region;
- Green Arrow Energy Fund (formerly Quadrivio Green Energy Fund);
- Fondo Housing Sociale Trentino;
- Macquarie SuperCore Infrastructure Fund;
- BNP Paribas European Infra Debt Fund.
The scheme’s ‘satellite’ portfolio also invests in two funds of funds (FoFs) part of the Real Economy Project – the FoF Private Debt Italia and FoF Private Equity Italia – launched by Assofondipensione in partnership with Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), the partly state-owned investment bank, and asset manager Fondo Italiano d’Investimento.
The ‘core’ segment, equal to at least 90% of the assets of the sub-fund, is invested by the asset managers in financial instruments, including derivatives, and global equity, within the maximum limit of 30%, in global bond and liquidity.
It invests through an active “specialist government mandate” and through an active multi-asset mandate, it added.
The managers of the ‘core’ portfolio include Eurizon Capital (passive management) and BlackRock Investment Management UK (active management).
Last year, the ‘Linea Bilanciata’ sub-fund returned 6.57% net on assets invested, with passive investments in global bonds generating a “positive absolute performance”, the scheme said.
The asset managers cut the exposure to more defensive equities, increasing the allocation to European and Japanese equities, it said.
