Turin, Piedmont, Italy
Being part of the start-up of Fondaco, one the most successful Italian asset management company, in 2004 has been a unique and exciting experience for me and now following its development still allows me to build up a peculiar expertise, not only in the pure investments field. As a portfolio manager, I began dealing with money market instruments and Euro government bond but then I have gradually covered all the main developed and emerging fixed income markets. After few years, I started managing multi-asset portfolios, combining my competences in asset allocation and portfolio construction together with a manager’s selection activity and collaborating with some of the best-known international advisers for institutional investors. Currently I am in charge of a 2BN AUM fund of funds, investing across many different asset classes through a top-down approach driven by macroeconomic analysis but including more opportunistic valuations and properly blending direct investments, passive and active instruments and derivatives. Fondaco is dedicated exclusively to institutional investors: its main shareholders are foundations and I have always been dealt with them directly (especially considering my previous experience at Compagnia di San Paolo). My role allows me to learn how to understand their financial needs as well as their governance and to appreciate the importance of advising them during the investment process together with providing good results and high quality services. From the managerial point of view, I have been contributing to the organization of Fondaco since the beginning: initiated by three people, including me, Fondaco now can count on more than 30 professionals in Torino and Luxembourg. I took part in the set-up of all the main departments of the company, selecting people, systems and partners, in order to find a proper balance between internal and outsourced activity. Moreover, I shaped my own team and I trained different people that then moved into other investments areas within the company. Finally, I have been collaborating with the School of Management and Economics of Universita' di Torino for many years, holding a second-level degree course in Capital Markets: it represents a great opportunity to maintain a close relationship with the academic community, to research into subjects of specific interest and collaborate with young and skilled people.