One of the conditions to create impact in the real economy is the presence of a long-term investor around which – also for a sense of responsibility towards the country – other significant national institutional investors must aggregate with the common goal of supporting its growth. This is one of the main messages that the CEO of CDP Real Asset SGR, Antonino Turicchi, conveyed during the event "Italy, real investments. Urban development, social cohesion and economic growth" organised at the MAXXI in Rome by COIMA.
"Impact is not improvised, does not emerge spontaneously from the market, is not the mere product of good intentions”, underscored the CEO. “It is created when conditions exist for its creation: we work every day to determine those conditions, and in a sense we ourselves are one of those conditions".
Turicchi recalled how CDP Real Asset is advancing through the FIA - Fondo Investimenti per l’Abitare, a significant social housing programme, thanks to a model developed 15 years ago along with a network of prominent institutional investors – banks, insurance companies, pension funds – which then chose to participate not just for an investment opportunity but out of a sense of responsibility towards the country.
As regards redevelopment initiatives for former public properties already in the portfolio, CDP Real Asset creates the conditions to foster urban regeneration by delivering the “first mile”, enabling the market to run the rest of the race, either independently or in partnership. “We take on everything that comes before a project becomes investable, and that is undoubtedly the most challenging part of the journey”, Turicchi noted. The reference is, for example, to environmental remediation, archaeological investigations, removal of hydraulic constraints, urban planning tools, and regulatory compliance spanning multiple governmental administrations. “These are processes that require years, specialised skills, and an ability to absorb risks that most private operators cannot or do not want to take on alone”, concluded the Real Asset CEO.