As of December 2014, the resources accumulated by the supplementary pension schemes represent approx 8% of GDP and 3% of the financial assets of Italian households, a value that is still contained even if almost double that of 2006. Members of supplementary pension schemes, at the end of 2014 amounted to approximately 6,6 million and the resources allocated to services reached 126 billion euros.
Compared to the workforce, a potential audience of 25,5 million units, the rate of participation in the supplementary pension scheme is 25,6%. In relation to the total number of employed persons, the participation rate reaches 29,5%, while for employees in the private sector, it exceeds 32%, with very different values according to the size of the company to which the worker belongs. Above all, workers belonging to the more advanced age groups can count on second-level social security coverage. Only 15% of the workforce under the age of 35 is enrolled in a supplementary pension scheme.
In 2014, the management results of the supplementary pension schemes were largely higher than the revaluation rate of the severance pay. THE contractual pension funds they revalued on average by 7,3%, open pension funds by 7,5%, new Pips by 7,3% against 1,3% of the severance pay. Analyzing the composition of the pension fund portfolio at the end of 2013, it is possible to observe how the stock of investments addressed in Italy amounted to approximately 30 billion euros, approximately 35% of total assets. Most of them (23,9 billion euros) are government bonds, for a value equal to 1,1 per cent of the outstanding public debt stock. On the other hand, the loan component addressed to Italian companies appears to be much smaller, amounting to a total of 2,1 billion euros (2,5% of the total).
To channel a greater share of pension savings in the Italian real economy it is necessary to overcome some technical limits and to encourage, among others, investment in instruments such as closed-end funds through which to invest in private equity, mini-bonds and renewable energies, present only marginally in the portfolio of some pre-existing pension funds.
Some recent regulatory provisions, however, could affect the already slow process of diffusion of supplementary pensions by reducing its potential in the accumulation phase. This is the increase in taxation on the annual returns of pension funds from 11% to 20% and the possibility of receiving in the pay slip, for a limited period of time, also the severance pay destined for supplementary pensions, diverting resources to the pension motive.
Attachments: Focus no. 10-13 March 2015.pdf
