Return on investment

The current return of life segment investments declined from 4.5% at 31 December 2011 to 4.1% owing to lower current income from the bond portfolio, due, in particular, to the de-risking policy on government bonds and equity portfolio, as well as to the incidence of cash, althought decreasing. 

Instead, the contribution to the result of the period from harvesting operations improved, amounting to −0.3% −0.7% at 31 December 2011), which benefitted from both the decrease in impairment, in particular on bond portfolios, and the recovery in value of investments recognized through profit and loss.

The comprehensive return increased significantly from 0.1% at 31 December 2011 to 11.7%. This trend was attributable to the improvement in the financial markets conditions, which determined a recovery in value of equity and, mainly, bond portfolios recognized in particular in other comprehensive income, compared the drop in value of bond investments observed from the second quarter of 2011 due to the tensions surrounding the sovereign bonds of countries of the Euro Area with high public sector debt.