Pir bonds push total balance to EUR 253m in June

The music is not changing. Bonds continue to be the only type of Pir that works, for the others still many minus signs. June was particularly positive for the system's inflows, and this time a strong boost came from the new Bcc product (obviously bonds), which in one month raked in a good EUR 108 million. And so, at an overall level, a total of 253 million euro entered the coffers of individual savings plan managers last month, a very positive result that does not, however, highlight a generalised underlying trend that would suggest that savers are moving towards these instruments, but rather the good performance of some individual products, especially those just launched on the market..

It is certainly in their coffers that fresh capital is concentrated, but probably an important part is flowing out of the existing PIRs, especially those that have now reached five years of life allowing them to cash in their tax-free performance (and which are gradually emptying out). In short, there is no balanced redistribution of flows over all products in the sector or even among the ranks of the same companies: there is a concentration on a very small number of instruments. This therefore makes it very difficult to understand what the real appeal of these instruments is today.

Not only that. there is also another aspect to bear in mind that goes beyond investors' preferences on their investment choices. Although very positive, June's figure is not particularly significant in terms of assessing the flows really aimed at fortifying the Italian entrepreneurial fabric (which is why PIRs were created with an ad hoc law that came into force at the beginning of 2017). In reality, in fact, individual savings plans finance only a fraction of small and medium-sized businesses looking for an alternative financing channel to banking. In the vast majority of cases, equity, balanced and flexible portfolios are mainly invested in blue chips, i.e. in those large companies that already have an established presence on the market, businesses that have been established for some time inside and outside Italy, and easy access to the capital market.

As for the sums entering the bond coffers, moreover, the trend is not so much that of acquiring the issues of SMEs, but often the preference is to subscribe to securities that belong to the same banking groups that have placed these products on the market. A scenario, this one, clearly emerged from an analysis published in the cover story of Plus24 on 5 July that analysed the portfolios of 80 Pir offered by Italian and foreign Sgr to Italian savers (with the support of the Mpower.finance database powered by Morningstar). At this point, perhaps it would be appropriate to question what the real mission of individual savings plans is today.

Meanwhile, equity, balanced and flexible Pir continue to march ahead, offering stellar performance over the long term (117% Leadersel Pmi, 109% Arca Azioni Italia and 100% Fideuram Piano azioni Italia) but also since the beginning of the year (22.7% Consultinvest Risparmio Italia, 20.9% Leadersel Pmi and 19.7% Arca Azioni Italia).