22 October 2025
The 2025 edition of the Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index offers a timely state‑of‑play for pension systems across 52 countries, assessing them on adequacy, sustainability and integrity.
This year, eight nations improved their rankings, none deteriorated — pointing to a gradual strengthening of global retirement frameworks.
Global Highlights
Top performers this year include the Netherlands (overall index 85.4, grade A), Iceland (84.0), and Denmark (82.3). For the first time, Singapore achieved an A‑grade (80.8), becoming the first Asian country to do so.  The annual thematic chapter examines the balance between governments encouraging pension funds to invest in national‑priority assets and preserving the funds’ fiduciary focus.
Italy’s Position: Progress - with reservations
Italy improved modestly to a score of 57.0 — a positive sign, yet well below the A‑grade leaders.
The score reflects:
• Adequacy: How well retirees are provided for
• Sustainability: The system’s ability to deliver in the future
• Integrity: Governance, transparency and trust
While Italy’s stability record earns some credit, the reasonably low overall ranking highlights the need for targeted improvement in private pension plan coverage, longevity risk management, and governance of retirement savings.
Why the Index Matters for CFA Society Italy Members
For investment professionals and pension‑fund advisors in Italy, the findings carry several implications:
1. Strategic Asset Allocation
As pension systems evolve worldwide, the search for long‑duration, lower‑liquidity assets (e.g., infrastructure, private credit) is growing. Understanding system sustainability helps anticipate where large institutional capital might be deployed.
2. Governance & Fiduciary Standards
Italy’s integrity score gap suggests opportunities for strengthening governance practices. CFA charterholders can support best‑practice frameworks, advising pension funds on transparency, risk measurement, and participant protection.
3. Advisory & Financial Planning
With adequacy remaining a global challenge, individual investors increasingly require sophisticated planning. Professionals in Italy can bridge the gap by providing advice on accumulation, decumulation and longevity risk — aligning with the CFA mandate of investor protection.
4. Policy & Market Interplay
The thematic focus on pension funds investing in national‑priority assets (e.g., infrastructure) means financial professionals must navigate evolving regulatory and policy landscapes. Active managers and allocators should assess how such shifts might influence asset flows, return expectations and liability matching.
Key Takeaways
The 2025 Global Pension Index confirms that retirement systems worldwide are gradually becoming more resilient, but significant disparities remain from one country to another. Italy shows modest progress, yet continues to lag behind the top-tier systems when it comes to key structural metrics. For investment professionals in Italy, these findings are highly relevant. They underscore the need to look beyond performance and engage with the underlying design of pension systems — from adequacy and long-term sustainability to governance and participant protection.
Professionals who advise institutions or individual investors are increasingly called upon to connect macroeconomic shifts, demographic trends, and fiduciary standards into actionable strategies. As the landscape evolves, particularly with growing pressure for pension funds to allocate to national-priority assets like infrastructure, the ability to interpret and anticipate systemic changes becomes a core value-added skill.
For CFA Society Italy members, the Global Pension Index offers not only benchmarking insights but also a call to action: to elevate their role as trusted advisors, bring analytical depth to public debate, and support the transformation of the Italian pension ecosystem.