Supplementary pension assets in Italy edged up to €262.6bn at the end of March 2026, up from €261.2bn at the end of 2025, despite financial market volatility linked to heightened geopolitical uncertainty.

According to the latest figures from Italy’s Pension Funds Supervisory Commission (COVIP), this was supported by a positive net balance in pension fund management, which offset capital losses linked to financial markets.

Net assets stood at €82bn for occupational funds, €42.6bn for open funds, and €59.3bn for personal pension plans (PIPs).

In the first quarter of 2026, pension schemes collected €4.7bn in contributions, up 12.2 per cent year on year, with open funds recording the strongest growth.

Despite inflows, market volatility weighed on performance: equity compartments posted negative returns, ranging from -1.3 per cent in occupational funds to -3.4 per cent in unit-linked PIPs, while balanced strategies also ended the quarter in negative territory.

Over a longer horizon, however, performance remained solid, with equity-heavy portfolios delivering average annual returns of around 4.5–4.7 per cent over the past decade, outpacing both bond strategies and the revaluation of Italy’s severance pay fund (TFR), which stood at 2.6 per cent over the same period.

Total positions in supplementary pension schemes reached 11.9 million at the end of March 2026, up 1.7 per cent from December 2025, corresponding to 10.6 million individual members due to multiple memberships.

Occupational pension funds recorded the strongest growth, with positions rising by 83,010 (+1.8 per cent) to 4.597 million, driven in particular by schemes for commerce workers and the public sector.

Further increases were also seen among school employees, reflecting the ongoing impact of automatic enrolment for new hires introduced in 2019, as well as in the construction sector fund.

Market-based schemes also expanded, with open pension funds increasing by 71,050 positions (+3.1 per cent) to 2.333 million, while personal pension plans (PIPs) rose by 44,800 (+1.1 per cent) to 4.016 million.

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