Since 2022, ARCA SGR—one of Italy’s most successful asset managers—has relied on BNP Paribas’ Securities Services business as a key partner in its growth journey.
The relationship with ARCA SGR has grown into a strategic alliance built on shared values, innovation, and a strong commitment to client success. Today, Securities Services provides ARCA SGR with a comprehensive, end‑to‑end suite Services & Solutions in Italy, Luxembourg and France covering the full Depositary Bank solutions, as well as liquidity and collateral services.
ARCA SGR and BNP Paribas: a partnership built on trust, innovation, and shared values
With over one million clients, €50+ billion in assets under management, and leadership in UCITS funds and PIR (Piani Individuali di Risparmio, long-term saving funds). ARCA SGR stands as a pillar of Italy’s managed-savings market.
In an exclusive interview, Francesco Frattola, COO and Deputy General Manager of ARCA SGR, reflects on the company’s evolution, the challenges of managing Italy’s largest open-ended pension fund, and how BNP Paribas has been instrumental in supporting ARCA ambitions.
Francesco Frattola, COO and Deputy General Manager of ARCA SGR interviewed by Luisa Maniscalco, Global Relationship Manager, BNP Paribas
From cooperative roots to market leadership
Looking back, Francesco reminds that ARCA SGR was founded in 1983 by a consortium of twelve banks – mostly regional cooperative banks. From the outset, ARCA combined entrepreneurial intuition with the new legislation on collective savings management that year.
Today, ARCA is a trusted institution, managing Italy’s largest open-ended pension fund (launched in 1998) and pioneering PIR (Piani Individuali di Risparmio, long-term saving funds)) funds, which have become a cornerstone of Italian retail investment.
A leadership philosophy shaped by sport
Before leading ARCA, Francesco was a high-level athlete, competing in both tennis and basketball—two sports that have profoundly influenced his approach to leadership.
“Basketball means connecting with teammates, doing the right thing even if it means giving up personal talent.
Tennis is completely different: it requires you to regenerate with every shot; each shot is a “go and return”, for better or worse, and it always demands an internal balance between power and precision.”
ARCA and BNP Paribas: from custody to strategic alignment
ARCA’s growth, says Francesco, has been both rapid and solid, in terms of service quality and financial results. Since 2022, BNP Paribas has been part of that story. Francesco prefers the term “custodian” rather than “depositary” because it conveys a value‑based concept.
Today, BNP Paribas is truly a partner for ARCA, and when I think of ARCA’s values—entrepreneurship, professionalism, innovation, and ethics—I see a strong alignment with BNP Paribas’ values.
This partnership has been particularly critical in pension fund management, where ARCA faces unique challenges:
- Low industrialisation and standardisation compared to mutual funds
- A non-digital-native client base -already retired members, beneficiaries, or future beneficiaries-, requiring high-touch, personalised service
- Major life events -retirement, home purchases, medical emergencies- where seamless execution is non-negotiable.
‘Providing assistance at those times is difficult, and to do so we need the entire supply chain and partners like BNP Paribas to help deliver the service to the client in a seamless way.’
Navigating the future: challenges and opportunities
Francesco thinks that the industry is today subject to very complex and conflicting forces: geopolitical, regulatory and technological dynamics. The future consists of often contradictory, non‑coherent, non‑convergent scenarios.
While it is hard to give a definitive answer, Francesco ensures there is one element common to all operators: strong trust and the fiduciary relationship with clients and he made a parallel with the “magic” of the two sports he practiced.
‘The magical ingredient of basketball is knowing how to pass the ball to a teammate. The magic of tennis is the intense concentration required before, during and after each shot. Perhaps that is why tennis is called “the devil’s sport,” because the devil lies in the details.’
We go beyond – so that we can go further, together
Francesco concludes by suggesting two focus areas to maintain our partnership at this level. The first is the breadth of the service offering; innovation—both for current services and future ones—is a central theme.
Looking medium‑ to long‑term, both sides must work together on adopting all the “strategic” technologies that are reshaping services, and the wealth management industry is a major and challenging endeavour.
Thank you to Francesco Frattola for his enlightening vision and for sharing the “magical ingredients” with us:
- Collaboration and relationship (‘pass the ball intelligently’)
- Concentration and focus on details (‘strike with extreme precision’).
