Set Up Pension Funds in Italy

Employees and Italian companies are required to contribute to the pension system imposed by the Government. The Italian pension system is divided into the public and the private one. The public pension pillar is compulsory for all the contributors, while the private pension pillar is optional. Thanks to the development of the private pension system, foreign investors have found important investment opportunities in pension funds.

A pension fund is an investment company collecting the contributions of the employees and employers and investing them in various financial instrument. The capital resulted from those investments will be paid under the form of annuities, full or mixed payments which will made after the employees ends their labor contracts or retire.

Our Italian company formation consultants can offer information on the legislation related to the opening of a pension fund.

Types of pension funds in Italy

Those interested in setting up investment funds in Italy have become and more interested in the establishment of pension funds because of the security they offer. One can open two types of pension funds in Italy:

• -          closed pension funds which are also known as contractual funds;
• -          open pension funds.

Contractual pension funds are established by associations of employers or trade unions in Italian companies and will take the form or company pensions funds, while the open pension funds are set up by banks, investment companies or even insurance companies in Italy.

How to register a pension fund in Italy

In order to establish an Italian pension fund, an investor must register a company with the Trade Registry and make an arrangement with an independent investment manager or investment management company which can be a bank or an insurance company. The same requirement applies to open and closed pension funds. Both types of pension funds must have a defined contribution basis which will serve as pension plans for those interested. There are no minimum capital requirements to open a pension fund in Italy.

For complete information on the requirements for opening a pension fund in Italy, please contact our company registration representatives. They can also assist you if you want to open a company in Italy.