(Teleborsa) – Never before this year has the attention been focused on the Salone del Risparmio, to celebrate the great return in attendance and to take stock of the post-pandemic situation of a sector that is the lifeblood of the real economy. The eleventh edition of the Salone del Risparmio takes place from 15 to 17 September 2021 at MiCo – Milano Congressi and, “remotely”, through the special RF Vision streaming platform created by Assogestioni.
Sustainability, innovation and post-pandemic recovery
At the center could only be the debate on sustainability and innovation, key themes of the European Green Deal and foundations for the restart of the real post-pandemic economy. But also the need to transform savers into investors, discouraging the unproductive use of liquidity and channeling savings towards more productive uses in line with the aspirations of sustainable growth. “From saver to investor: liquidity to build new worlds” is in fact the title of the Salone del Risparmio 2021, to testify a new course for the industry in the face of the need to set liquidity in motion to build the future. A future that focuses on digitization and the challenges of climate change, but also the need to reduce inequalities and enhance human capital.
What is the Salone del Risparmio?
The Salone del Risparmio is the largest event in the sector, organized every year by Assogestioni, to allow the various market players to take stock of the situation, share experiences and new ideas, start collaborations and enhance their know-how and update their own knowledge of regulatory, fiscal and operational issues concerning the asset management industry.
The first and second days are behind closed doors, meaning that entry is allowed only to sector operators, while the third day is usually also open to the public of savers.
The numbers of managed savings in Italy and in the EU
Assets under management in Europe were worth € 24.9 trillion at the end of the first half of 2020, a year conditioned by the health emergency, which saw a slowdown in the first quarter of the year due to the outbreak of the pandemic and the consequent lockdown. This is what emerges from the latest Efama report, an association representing the sector in Europe.
The market, which has been showing a constantly growing trend since 2008, when it was worth just 10,800 billion euros, reached its historical record in 2019, with 25,800 billion euros of Asset under Management (AuM) and a “Top Five” which includes “United Kingdom (with a market share of 37.3%), France (17.6%), Germany (9.5%), Switzerland (8.3% and Italy (5.7%). ‘Europe has a market share of just over 10%.
Looking at the weight of the sector with respect to GDP, there is a peak of 157% at the end of the first half of 2020, but the figure is to be taken with a grain of salt, as the massive slowdown in GDP has artificially boosted the AuM / GDP ratio due to the effect of the stop of economic activity. Moreover, the weight of the sector with respect to GDP has been growing steadily since 2008, when it was worth just 81% of the EU’s gross domestic product, to reach 149% at the end of 2019. Numbers that testify to the growth in the “weight” of industry versus the economy.
In Italy, the sector reached a new historical record in terms of total assets under management at the end of the first half of the year, with 2,520 billion euros, according to data released by Assogestioni. The main share of the assets (51.2%) is invested in collective management. Subscriptions registered by the system in the 2nd quarter of 2021 amounted to 21.5 billion euros, thanks in particular to open-end funds which contributed around 17 billion.
Italians, savings and a love of liquidity
The latest ACRI-Ipsos survey published at the end of October 2020, in view of the World Savings Day, highlighted the intimate bond that binds Italians to saving. The economic-health crisis, then, by cutting down on consumption, especially those outside the home for leisure and entertainment, has caused a surge in savings. But there are also those who consumed little and failed to save: the victims of this crisis.
And the age-old link of Italians with liquidity (63% prefer it) or the brick (for 33% of the sample) is not denied, but some also choose low-risk financial instruments (29%). A trend accentuated by poandemia
The 2020 ABI Report confirms the effects of the economic-health crisis on cash, which certifies a surge in cash on current accounts to 1,682 billion euros, with a year-on-year growth of 8%.
Program of the 2021 edition
This year’s edition of the Salone del Risparmio has over 10 thousand members, 170 brands represented and a rich program of events, also because the 2020 edition was “contaminated” by the pandemic. 115 conferences and training seminars are scheduled and over 350 speakers are expected to analyze the challenges of managed savings in the post-pandemic.
Among the most anticipated voices that of the Nobel Prize economist Joseph Stiglitz on “Who pays the bill?”. The interventions of the director general of the Treasury Alessandro Rivera, the deputy director general of the Bank of Italy Alessandra Perrazzelli, the economist former commissioner for the spending review Carlo Cottarelli are also expected. The events were opened by the President of Assogestioni, Tommaso Corcos, with the inaugural conference “Liquidity to build new worlds”. An elation that, starting from the status of the asset management industry, in Italy and in the world, deepens the trends and challenges for the future, where innovation and sustainability will play a central role not only for the financial world but for all economic sectors.
Among the most anticipated events is the presentation of the second edition of the Censis-Assogestioni report on the investment choices of Italians, entitled “From saver to sustainable investor”, presented by Fabio Galli, general manager of Assogestioni, and Giorgio De Rita, general secretary of Censis.
There is no sustainability without trees …
At the Salone del Risparmio 2021 the Trees Infiniti project is also staged, to testify the importance of the environmental issue and the attention that the managed savings industry reserves to the environmental challenge and climate change. The initiative, promoted by Assogestioni, involves the construction of a green space of 600 square meters in the area in front of its entrance. Furthermore, thanks to the support of five of the major asset managers operating in Italy – Amundi, Arca Fondi Sgr, BlackRock, Eurizon and JP Morgan Asset Management – and to the participation in the Forestami project, the Salone will donate 625 plants to the city of Milan, in capable of absorbing over 9 tons of CO2 per year.
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