Adnkronos Rome, September 17 (Adnkronos/Labitalia) – What measures are needed to develop supplementary pension provision for the benefit of workers, businesses, and the Italian real economy? This question was the focus of today's conference, "Proposals for the Development of Pension Funds: More Membership in Micro and Small Businesses and More Capital in the Real Economy," promoted by Arca Fondi Sgr and Itinerari Previdenziali.
The event, hosted at the Chamber of Deputies, was attended by Alberto Brambilla (President of the Itinerari Previdenziali Study and Research Center), Ugo Loeser (CEO of Arca Fondi Sgr), Mario Pepe (President of Covip), along with leading institutional representatives: Claudio Durigon (Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Labor and Social Policies), Antonio Misiani (Vice President of the Senate Budget Committee), and Marco Osnato (President of the Chamber of Deputies' Finance Committee).
The meeting provided an opportunity to discuss the need to revitalize supplementary pensions as a cornerstone of Italian welfare and a strategic lever for the country's economic development. €105 billion stolen from the real economy and 11 million de facto excluded.
The analyses presented highlighted how the amendments introduced by Law 296/2006 to Legislative Decree 252/2005 have compromised the full implementation of the pension reform. On the one hand, the requirement to allocate severance pay (TFR) for companies with more than 49 employees to the INPS Treasury Fund appears to have diverted over €105 billion from the real economy, diverting it to financing current government spending. On the other hand, the abolition of the Guarantee Fund for SMEs appears to effectively exclude employees of small and medium-sized enterprises (approximately 11 million people, 60% of employees) from supplementary pension provision; data show enrollment rates of less than 10%, compared to 70-80% for workers of large companies.
During the conference, a series of concrete measures were presented, aimed at revitalizing the effectiveness of supplementary pensions and maximizing their positive impact on the national economy. These include the reintroduction of the Guarantee Fund for SMEs, to financially support micro and small businesses in transferring severance pay (TFR) to pension funds through access to subsidized credit; the reintroduction of six-month periods of silent consent, using the automatic enrollment formula for pension funds, with the option to withdraw (opt-out); the modification of default options, moving from a system that favors guaranteed funds to a model based on life-cycle logic; the increase in the threshold for investing in the real economy to 25% of pension fund assets, exceeding the current 10% limit for qualified investments; and the revision of taxation, bringing the tax on pension fund returns back to 11% and applying it at the time of the benefit. Reforming the pension system: introducing flexible and reversible solutions that allow workers to retain ownership of their assets and transfer them to their heirs in the event of their death.
During the debate, convergent positions emerged regarding the urgency of correcting regulatory distortions and revitalizing the strategic role of supplementary pensions, particularly for workers in micro and small businesses.
"A decisive change of pace is needed," said Ugo Loeser, CEO of Arca Fondi Sgr. "We must overcome the regulatory obstacles that currently block membership and limit pension funds' contribution to the real economy. The country needs a pension system that contributes significantly to economic growth and ensures high returns for members, guaranteeing them an adequate standard of living in the future." Alberto Brambilla, president of the Itinerari Previdenziali Study and Research Center, emphasized that "even more so in a country like Italy, grappling with a major demographic transition and a public debt of over €3.000 trillion that will prevent any future increases in already generous welfare spending, the growth of supplementary pensions is essential. But to incentivize both an increase in the number of members and the development of pension fund assets (with a ratio of 11,7%, Italy currently ranks 27th among OECD countries in terms of pension fund assets to GDP), foresight and courage are needed. Such courage is needed to address legislation, which currently is unfavorable to membership, especially among SMEs, and to investments in the real economy, as well as penalizing taxation."