The Italian supplementary pension system and its sustainable investment goals: how pension funds disclose sustainable investments under the European SFDR

Abstract

The aim of this dissertation is to analyze how the Italian supplementary pension system has to disclose its sustainable investments and how the pension funds have implemented the European Union’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). At first, this dissertation will give an overview on the Italian supplementary pension system. In Italy an individual can choose between different types of supplementary pension funds, such as contractual pension funds, open pension funds, pre-existing pension funds, and individual pension funds (PIP). The focus will be on contractual pension funds which are pension funds intended for people in the same contractual category. In the following section of the dissertation, there will be a focus on the European regulation framework for sustainable investments, namely the SFDR. The SFDR aims to improve the disclosure that funds and other financial market participants must do in terms of sustainability, so that investors can make more informed decisions. Furthermore, this thesis will examine how contractual pension funds have to disclose their sustainable investments, if they make any. Finally, the main empirical analysis will be on the contractual funds returns and the difference between the returns of the funds that disclose a sustainability objective and the ones that do not; moreover, the analysis will see how the returns have changed after the implementation of the SFDR.