After two years of difficulty, the PIRs are once again appealing to investors. They reveal it Assogestioni data on the second quarter of 2021 and this is confirmed by the numbers published by Plus24 for the month of July. Accomplices the rush of Piazza Affari and the ever-increasing confidence that reigns on the Italian market, the Individual Savings Plans seem to have risen to new life. We are still far from the glories of 2017 - the year in which they were introduced by the Renzi government - and 2018, but the strong slowdown recorded in the following two years and partly in the first quarter of 2021 seems to be behind us now. Thanks also to the push of the alternative PIRs, subscriptions are recovering and the "plus sign" has reappeared, giving new hope to the sector and to the entire asset management sector.
THE LATEST DATA ON PIR
After the -316 million recorded in the first three months of 2021, managers started smiling again in the second quarter of the current year. In fact, net funding was positive for 106 million euros, a figure to which we must add the 349 million inflows from Alternative PIRs introduced in May 2020 by the Relaunch decree in order to channel resources to unlisted small and medium-sized enterprises.
Assogestioni's results for the second quarter were also confirmed in July, when net inflows from PIRs, based on data provided by Plus 24, were positive by 60 million euro. Although the balance has remained negative since the beginning of the year (-272 million), there seem to be all signs of a gradual recovery of Individual Savings Plans. It seems "clear that something in the sector is changing and after months and months spent in the most total disaffection and indifference on the part of investors", comments Advisor Online.
Going into detail, at the end of the first half year, the system of 68 traditional PIR funds had assets of €19,67 billion, a figure which testifies to a quarterly increase of 5,9% thanks to the boost deriving from the positive trend of the markets. Piazza Affari has in fact done its part, not only with the +18% achieved by the Ftse Mib since the beginning of the year, but above all with the +33% recorded by the Ftse Italia Mid Cap and with the +54% by the Ftse Aim.
Still in terms of assets, the leader of the Pir market in the first 6 months of 2021 was still Banca Mediolanum, with a market share of 21.3%, followed by Intesa Sanpaolo (20.6%), Amundi (15%), Arca (12 %) and Soul (10%). In July however, the companies that collected the most were Arca Sgr (12,8 million), Neam Am (12,1 million) and Banca Generali (11,8 million).
Speaking instead of individual categories, in the second quarter, the impact of equity products rose to 29% (+1%) compared to the first quarter, while balanced funds fell to 44% (-1%) and flexible funds attested to 27% (from 26%).
PIRs BETWEEN PAST AND FUTURE
Before talking about future prospects, it seems appropriate to make a brief summary of the previous installments. In asset management, 2017 went down in history as "the year of the Pir". In the 12 months following their introduction, the Individual Savings Plans in fact recorded positive deposits of 11 billion euro. A result confirmed also in 2018, when incoming flows reached 4 billion euro. Hence the abyss: with the 2019 Budget Law, the Conte Government 1 decided to introduce heavy changes to the legislation on PIRs, establishing that 3,5% of the assets should be invested in units or shares of venture capital funds and a further 3,5% in financial instruments of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) admitted to trading on AIM Italia. Changes that have led the market towards such a profound paralysis as to push the Conte 2 government to launch a return to the origins, canceling the two restrictions of 3,5% on Aim and venture capital and establishing a single obligation: that of reserving 5% of the total value of the instrument (always 70%) in financial instruments of companies other than those included in the Ftse Mib and Ftse Mid indices of Borsa Italiana or equivalent indices of other regulated markets. Finally, in June 2020, the alternative PIRs also arrived, similar to the "traditional cousins", but with differences regarding the investment thresholds, the investor target, the savings concentration constraints and the range of products that can be included in the bottom.
What are the prospects for the future? With the continuous revolutions behind us, the Pir market seems destined to close 2021 with a profit. In fact, Equita Sim's estimates for the current year speak of positive net inflows of half a billion euros for ordinary PIRs and as much as 2-3 billion a year for alternative PIRs.
“PIRs remain attractive tools and go in the direction of channeling savings into equity investments that create sustainable value for SMEs and investors. Furthermore, thanks to the combination of the Draghi government and the Recovery Plan, we believe that Italy is among the most interesting countries in which to invest at the moment, also in light of a drastically improved risk profile, and this could lead to a return of capital towards the 'Italia”, underlines di Luigi de Bellis, co-head of the research office of Equita.
In this context there is one last aspect to underline. At the beginning of next year, those who signed their PIR in 2017 will see the five-year bond imposed on the investment expire and will be able to benefit from the tax exemption on financial income taxes on inheritance taxes. Considering that 5 years ago the Ftse Mib was at an altitude of 19 thousand and that in recent weeks we have reached 26 thousand, the return could be more than advantageous.
