Pension funds

Young people and welfare: the market outpaces politics

Numerous plans and incentives offered by insurance companies to encourage the opening of supplementary positions from birth

by Marco Barlassina

15 April 2026

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

The proposals

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

The last Budget Law was supposed to include a measure that envisaged a State contribution to the start-up of pension funds for the newly born. The measure ran aground in the absence of adequate economic coverage in the manoeuvre, but in a country characterised by a rapidly ageing population and a widespread savings propensity that is not always oriented towards the long term, the entry of young people and families into retirement planning remains a strategic issue.

Especially since young people are not only the most penalised by the current public pension system, based exclusively on contributory calculation, but also those who would most benefit from the capitalisation of interest over several years and - from a fiscal point of view - from lower taxation on liquidation.

According to the latest Covip report, 'out of the flow of new enrolments over the last five years, young individuals out of the total number of 'other enrolled members' reach high percentages: 65.5% (about 170,000 people) were under 25 years of age at the time of enrolment'. At the moment, however, for minors everything is left to the family's decision to open a social security position for their children who are tax dependent, with a view to later feeding them with autonomous payments once they enter the world of work.

The proposals

Insurance companies have thus moved to anticipate the timing of politics with a series of initiatives.
Generali, for example, offers the possibility of activating dedicated pension paths for younger people, allowing parents to start building up a pension supplement for their children right away. Generali Italia's individual pension plan called GenerAzione Previdente fits into this framework. "The solution," explains Giancarlo Bosser, chief life officer of Generali Italia, "allows the opening of positions even at birth or for young people and tax-dependent individuals, with payments that can be modulated over time and investment paths differentiated according to time horizon. Particular attention is paid to young people under 40, for whom there is a dedicated initiative that eliminates loading costs for the first two years, providing an incentive for an early start on a pension path". GenerAzione Previdente also integrates Life Cycle logic, which progressively adjusts the risk profile depending on age and the years remaining until retirement, and makes it possible to flank the accumulation path with optional insurance coverage to protect the pension project in the event of unforeseen events. Finally, the orientation towards sustainable investments responds to the growing sensitivity of the new generations to ESG issues. 'These are solutions that are showing a good take-up rate among the young and very young,' adds Bosser.

Intesa Sanpaolo Assicurazioni's supplementary pension products currently on placement can be subscribed from birth (contributions can be made by a third party on behalf of the minor) and provide specific benefits for young people.

In particular, both the open-ended pension fund Il Mio Domani and the individual pension plan Il Mio Futuro do not envisage joining costs and the annual management costs are reduced to ten euros for young people up to 25 years of age. Both products offer the possibility of adhering to Life Cycle paths: this management method provides for an automatic mechanism of progressive shifts of the investment towards less risky sub-funds as one approaches retirement age.

Remaining in the Intesa galaxy, Fideuram Vita's open pension fund "Fondo Pensione Fideuram" also provides investment solutions dedicated to young people. In particular, the "Fideuram Millennials" sub-fund aims to maximise the appreciation of the value of the invested capital over time, responding to the needs of individuals who are far from retirement, who havea high propensity for risk, who fully seek the opportunities offered by equity markets or who wish to actively participate in investments with a high environmental, social and governance impact.

In the area of supplementary pensions, Unipol too provides solutions that take into account the characteristics and needs of the new generations. Firstly, in order to encourage the spread of complementary pension instruments among young people, it has introduced a facilitation on the Unipol Previdenza Futura Pip: the costs directly borne by the member are reduced by 50% until the age of 26. This same multi-branch individual pension plan, which adopts the Life Cycle mechanism, can also be subscribed to by a parent or relative from the child's birth. This latter feature is also common to Unipol Previdenza FPA, an open-ended pension fund that offers its members seven sub-funds differentiated by risk/return profile.

Also aimed at young people, Allianz offers zero loading costs on the Orizzonte Previdenza Pip and activation for just a few eurosone-off on the Allianz Previdenza and Insieme open pension funds.