Social security savings to finance growth
Italia has at its disposal huge resources that are generally forgotten in the debate on economic growth: the pension savings of households. In fact, supplementary pension schemes manage EUR 260 billion, a financial mass that continues to grow thanks to new memberships and dynamic returns. This is 'patient' capital, which could contribute greatly to the country's productive development. Yet this potential remains largely untapped. According to Covip data, only 19.4 per cent of supplementary pension resources are invested in Italia, and just 5.3 per cent go directly into the real national economy. In the case of negotiated pension funds, which originate from bargaining between social partners, the share of investment in Italian companies does not reach 3% of assets.
Mind you, there is no lack of willingness to invest in the country, as shown by the plans of Assofondipensione, the association of negotiated funds, in this direction. The problem is largely structural. The Italian stock market weighs less than 1% on the global scene, and our alternative investment market - private equity, venture capital, private debt - is underdeveloped and has levels of risk and illiquidity that are not compatible with pension investors, in the absence of adequate mitigation tools. For this reason I have proposed, also at a hearing before the parliamentary control commission on social security institutions, the creation of a public-private instrument capable of mobilising social security savings towards direct investments in the Italian economy, introducing return protection mechanisms.
A new confirmation of the possibility of moving in this direction comes from an initiative of the Lazio Region: the 'Lazio Venture 2' programme. This instrument, aimed at the growth of venture capital (and thus the creation of new enterprises) in the region, introduces a risk-sharing mechanism between public and private capital based on asymmetric returns. In essence, the region participates in the investment funds together with private operators accepting a non-proportional distribution of results. The Region absorbs part of any losses within the 25% threshold and, at the same time, gives private investors priority in the allocation of profits when investments are successful. The aim is to generate a 'leverage effect' of the public capital invested and to curb the 'flight of savings' by favouring innovative and risky investments in full compliance with State aid rules.
This measure could easily be extended to a national scale. The objective should be the creation of a national fund of funds dedicated to investments in private equity, venture capital and other forms of investment in the Italian real economy, in which pension funds could invest with a risk-return profile and a horizon consistent with their nature as long-term investors. Such a structure could be realised through different institutional architectures, with the involvement of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti or other public investors as reference entities, with return protection and public-private risk-sharing instruments. Possible options could also include the establishment of a revolving fund that would smooth out any losses and be fed by earnings, or the use of public guarantee instruments such as the Guarantee Fund managed by Mediocredito Centrale. What matters is the economic principle: create instruments that allow pension investors to co-finance the development of the national production system while maintaining an adequate level of protection for household savings. The potential macroeconomic impact of such an initiative could be extraordinarily significant in terms of GDP growth, employment and tax revenues.
It would be indispensable for the legislator to open a broader debate on the strategic role of supplementary pensions. In recent months, regulatory attention has focused mainly on regulatory interventions - such as the extension of portability or the tightening of sanctions - that risk weakening the system of negotiated pension funds, without addressing the central issue: how to effectively mobilise pension savings to support the growth of the Italian economy. We therefore hope that there will be a change of direction, aiming to strengthen supplementary pensions and enhance their potential as long-term institutional investors. On the other hand, in a country characterised by high public debt and narrow fiscal spaces, consistently mobilising private savings is the most promising way to sustain development.
