Equita, Prometeia and Fondo Italiano d'Investimento sponsored again the event "Alternative investments: access to the economy and higher returns"

Equita, the leading Italian independent investment bank, Prometeia and Fondo Italiano d’Investimento repeated the “Alternative investments: access to the economy and higher returns” event at Milan’s Museo dei Navigli, following the success of the inaugural event hosted in Rome on 18th September 2019. The event was an opportunity to learn more about alternative investments available to institutional investors (in particular foundations, pension funds and insurance companies) and compare the approach of other European countries.

Luigi Roth, Chairman of Equita Capital SGR, and Angelo Tantazzi, Chairman of Prometeia, opened the conference followed by presentations from Davide Squarzoni (CEO, Prometeia Advisor SIM), Luigi Tommasini (Senior Partner, Fondo Italiano d’Investimento SGR) and Paolo Pendenza (Head of Private Debt, Equita Capital SGR).

During the conference, panellists argued that Italian private equity is less prominent compared to other European countries, both in terms of assets under management and number of fund managers. This contrasts with the Italian economic framework, where small and medium enterprises’ significant unrealised potential become a key opportunity for the private equity market and where the lower competition of PE firms in Italy offers higher returns for investors.

In the middle of the discussion, also private debt emerged as a market with strong opportunities, especially in light of its wide growth potential as a complementary source of funding to the traditional bank debt and the higher returns it can achieve compared to more traditional fixed income investment instruments.

Today the key goal is to promote financial instruments that have attractive returns for investors and that are coherent with the level of risk taken. At the same time, these financial instruments should be able to facilitate the growth of Italian small and medium companies. The panel concluded that private equity and private debt are good to fit these types of investment solutions. However, there is still urgent need to train and educate the actors that would like to invest in these alternative asset classes, to let them analyse and value adequately the potential of these investments.

The conference also hosted a round table moderated by Andrea Vismara, CEO of Equita, interviewing Silvana Chilelli (CEO, Eurizon Capital Real Asset SGR), Oreste Gallo (Chairman, Cometa), Filippo Manfredi (Managing Partner, Fondazione Caritro) and Domenico Romeo (Founding Partner, Four Partners). At the end of the round table Anna Gervasoni (Direttore Generale, AIFI) concluded the conference with her speech.

Luigi Roth, Chairman of Equita Capital SGR, commented: “Based on the success of the event we hosted last year in Rome, we decided to bring the same format to Milan. Alternative assets are key for financial markets: they support corporates by financing their growth strategies and help investors improve returns in an environment where traditional assets offer low rates. Equita, together with Prometeia and Fondo Italiano d’Investimento, confirm their commitment to educate on and promote these instruments to Italian institutional investors”.