In July, takings exceeded 205 million
1.48 billion has been raised since the start of the year. Bond sales (156 million) have been a key driver.
Key points
The positive trend for PIRs continued in July: net inflows for the month stood at €205.6 million, marking a slight slowdown compared with June’s figure of €222.2 million. The year-to-date total thus stands at around 1.48 billion. Once again, the sector is being driven by the growing number of bond-focused PIRs, which closed the month with a surplus of 156 million.
Who collects the most
The lion’s share is accounted for by Mediolanum, with 82.5 million in inflows, Eurizon with 54.1 million, Arca with 45.3 million and Bcc with 30.4 million. These four companies alone accounted for over 212 million, more than the entire monthly balance, confirming highly concentrated inflows which more than offset the redemptions recorded by other operators. These included Amundi, with a net outflow of 14.3 million, Ersel (-4.9 million) and Euromobiliare (-2.3 million).
This concentration becomes even more apparent when looking at the first seven months of the year. Mediolanum raised 481.3 million, Eurizon 429 million, Bcc 361 million and Arca 185 million: together they total over 1.45 billion, which is practically the system’s entire net balance.
In terms of returns, performance over the last five years has continued to be very strong, particularly for equity products. This trend has been driven by the strong performance of the Milan Stock Exchange, and in particular large-cap shares, which have significantly outperformed mid- and small-caps over the five-year period and remain a significant component of the schemes’ portfolios.
The appeal of large-cap companies
This is a paradox that keeps resurfacing because PIRs were created to channel savings into the Italian real economy and also towards smaller businesses, but in practice a substantial proportion of the assets remains concentrated in the largest securities. In equity-based PIRs, the lion’s share is often allocated to the large-cap stocks on the Milan Stock Exchange, whilst on the bond side, a significant portion of the portfolios is invested in issues by large groups, starting with the banks. These are liquid securities, easily acquired by fund managers and often profitable, but they limit the instrument’s impact on the direct financing of SMEs.
