Fondo Telemaco, the Italian pension fund for telecommunications sector employees, has appointed eight new asset managers following a strategic overhaul of its two largest sub-funds – ‘Prudente’ (Green) and ‘Bilanciato’ (Yellow), for a total of €2.4bn, according to the fund’s latest annual report.
The appointments are part of a broader shift in the pension fund’s asset allocation, aimed at increasing equity exposure and simplifying the fixed income structure.
The new asset managers for the €1.6bn ‘Prudente’ portfolio include Generali Investments, Amundi, BNY Mellon’s Insight Investment, and BlackRock, to run global bond mandates.
Neuberger Berman and RBC BlueBay Asset Management will manage similar mandates within the €800m ‘Bilanciato’ sub-fund.
In equities, Anima and Groupama Asset Management have received global active equity mandates, while Northern Trust Asset Management has taken over a global passive equity portfolio.
These appointments mark a significant reshuffle from the previous roster of managers, which included Allianz Global Investors, Ardian, AXA Investment Managers, Azimut, UBS Asset Management, Payden Global SIM, and UnipolSai Assicurazioni. BlackRock was the only reappointed manager.
Previously, under the ‘Prudente’ sub-fund, AllianzGI and AXA IM managed global active bond mandates, Azimut oversaw a European active equity mandate, and BlackRock held a global passive equity brief. Additional mandates included total return (UBS AM), risk overlay (Epsilon), private debt (Eurizon Capital), and global total return bonds (Payden & Rygel).
The ‘Bilanciato’ sub-fund had been managed since 2021 by Ardian (private equity), AXA IM (global bonds), Azimut (European equities), and BlackRock (passive global equities). UBS AM, Epsilon, and Payden & Rygel held total return, risk overlay, and bond mandates, respectively.
Strategic shift: more equities, less complexity
The manager rotation follows a review of the strategic asset allocation for both sub-funds. As part of the new framework, the scheme has increased its equity exposure to 30% in ‘Prudente’ and 60% in ‘Bilanciato’, while removing monetary indices and liquidity components previously used for risk overlay strategies.
Telemaco has replaced investment-grade indices with a global aggregate bond index (currency-hedged) in both portfolios. In ‘Prudente’, the corporate high-yield exposure has been shifted to a global high-yield benchmark, while ‘Bilanciato’ has reduced high-yield exposure in favour of equities, reflecting a more risk-contained approach.
The scheme is also shortening fixed income duration by introducing a short-term euro government bond index. Simultaneously, it is pivoting away from European equities toward global and, to a lesser extent, emerging market equities. A new allocation to global small-cap equities is also being introduced.
These adjustments form part of a broader move to introduce a life-cycle investment option within the scheme’s structure.
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