That the PIRs could attract the attention of small investors, given their technical characteristics and above all the tax breaks they enjoy, was quite predictable. But the success achieved during these first few months of harvest has far exceeded expectations of all, including the Government, in parallel allowing small and medium-sized Italian enterprises, the main recipients of this enormous amount of resources, to find an alternative financing channel to banks and to take advantage of the surge in volumes on the Stock Exchange. A performance above any forecast that first prompted the Ministry of the Economy and then the main Italian brokers to ad considerably raise the estimates relating to the inflow of capital towards Individual Savings Plans, reaching the figure monstre of 67 billion euros in five years.
The PIR therefore seem to have won the hearts of Italian savers, intent on not missing out on an investment opportunity with better yields than government bonds and above all higher tax benefits.
PIR: THE EXTRAORDINARY PERFORMANCE IN THE FIRST MONTHS
The PIRs made their debut on the Italian market in January, after the go-ahead to the 2017 Budget law which included them in our legal system, and since then they have started a real ride, reaching staggering figures in just a few months. The precise numbers are provided by Assogestioni, according to which from January to the end of March individual savings plans collected 1,1 billion, while assets amounted to 1,9 billion. Obviously, April and a large part of May must also be added to these data, for which overall results are not currently available, despite the largely positive indications from operators. Eurizon for example, the asset management company of the Intesa Sanpaolo group, thanks to the PIRs, managed to raise 800 million euros.
It should be emphasized that, week after week, the market has expanded with a considerable number of products: today there are around 35 funds available to investors, at the end of March there were 15, of which 9 created ad hoc and 6 pre- existing but adapted to the new legislation.
Going into the details of the performance of the individual groups, we discover that Société Générale was the king in the first three months of 2017, which recorded flows of 388 million euros, followed by Mediolanum (296 million) and Intesa (222,3 million). . The results of Pioneer (80,1 million) and Arca (80 million) were also good.
PIR: THE MEF'S NEW ESTIMATIONS
By virtue of the success achieved, the Ministry of the Economy has decided to revise the estimates on the collection of PIRs in the current year, even arriving at expect an inflow of 10 billion euros. To understand the extent of the increase, just think that initially 16-18 billion in funding was expected, but over a five-year period.
PIR: EQUITA SIM'S ESTIMATES
In the wake of the MEF, Equita Sim has also raised the estimates on PIR collection for 2017, bringing them from 1,6 to 10 billion euros. Not only. Between now and 2019, it could reach 35 billion and then reach 55 billion by 2021.
Going into detail, according to Equita, investments in shares that are not part of the Ftse Mib basket will amount to 4,2% of their average free float in 2017, 5,4% in 2018, and then even reach 23,1% % over 5 years.
PIR: INTERMONTE'S ESTIMATES
Intermonte is even more optimistic about the present and future of the PIRs according to which the Individual Savings Plans will be able to collect, over the five years necessary to obtain the tax benefits provided for by law (no taxes on profits, we recall), figures from dizzying: 9,8 billion in 2017, 11,5 in 2018, 12,4 in 2019, 14,4 in 2020, 19,3 in 2021. Adding up the data for the five-year period it even reaches 67,6 billion euros.
PIR: THE EFFECTS ON COMPANIES LISTED ON THE STOCK EXCHANGE
The boom that the PIRs have recorded, and according to estimates they will continue to record in the coming years, has had an overwhelming effect also on the companies in which these funds invest and on the Stock Exchange, where from January to April of the current year volumes grew exponentially.
Based on the provisions of the regulations, at least 70% of the total value of the PIRs must be invested in financial instruments of companies resident in Italy or in EU member states or in member states of the European Economic Area with permanent business in Italy. Of this 70 percent, at least 30% must be invested in financial instruments issued by companies not listed on the FtseMib in order to channel savings to small and medium-sized companies.
These rules have had a tangible effect on the Stock Exchange: in just four months volumes on small caps and on the Star segment doubled, while those on Aim Italia have grown by almost four times. Speaking of prices, the securities of small and medium capitalization companies, in the same reference period, had a performance higher than those of the FtseMib by 23% and by 10,5% compared to those of the EuroStoxx Mid. Performances that also in this case largely exceeded analysts' expectations.
The positive results obtained by the PIRs to date are therefore there for all to see and, based on estimates, this could be just the beginning.
