Get the right experience for you. Please select your location and investor type.
Innovation, Italian Style
Despite Italy's challenging macroeconomic indicators, such as political instability and low fertility rates, the country remains a hub of innovation and dynamic businesses.
‘… apart from the sanitation, the medicine, the education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a freshwater system, public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?’.
Thus speaks a character in Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979), set in 1st century AD Judea.
Two thousand years later, it is still easy to underestimate the innovation to be found within Italy. The top constituents of the Borsa Italiana include banks or state-owned utilities, as well as heritage brands like Campari and Ferrari.
Nor does the long-term outlook for Italy appear bright on paper. Its political system is characterised by intermittent chaos,1 and its fertility rate of 1.21 is lower than that of Japan.2
Yet we seek to invest in companies, not countries. Macro indicators can and often do belie the dynamism within people and businesses. A recent trip to Milan served as a good reminder of this.
Brembo: innovating in automotive braking systems
One company we met, Brembo, has designed braking components for passenger cars and motorbikes since 1961, and continue to innovate; their new green brake disc can reduce emissions by as much as 80% relative to a standard disc.3 On their 60th anniversary, Brembo announced a revolutionary electric braking system, SENSIFY, which incorporates artificial intelligence to maximise the use of data in improving braking time, speed, and energy use.4
Diasorin: pioneering diagnostic tests
Italy’s automotive heritage was the genesis of another company we visited. Founded in 1956 as an offshoot of Fiat and chemicals company Montecatini, Diasorin produces specialty diagnostic tests for use in hospitals, labs and point-of-care systems.
From its HQ among the rice-fields of Saluggia, CEO Carlo Rosa has overseen the nimble development of emergency tests for swine flu in 2009, Zika in 2016, COVID in 2020 and MPox in 2022. Similarly, Diasorin’s MeMed solution helps clinicians distinguish between bacterial and viral infections within 35 minutes.5 This innovation aims to reduce unnecessary antibiotic use amidst the danger of antimicrobial resistance.
Technoprobe: advancing semiconductor testing
Finally, an Italian company that received one of TSMC’s 2024 Outstanding Supplier Awards:6 Technoprobe. Founded in his kitchen in 1996 by Dr Giuseppe Crippa, Technoprobe works with semiconductor designers to create specialised probe cards. These cards, which can feature up to 70,000 needles hammered into custom-printed ceramic plates, are used to test chips during the production process. More complex chips require more complex probe cards; in this way, Technoprobe helps sustain future semiconductor innovation.
A few days in Milan reaffirmed our conviction that investing opportunities can be found beneath and behind headline macroeconomic data; that heritage and innovation are by no means mutually exclusive.
Want to know more?
Important Information
This material is for general information purposes only. It does not constitute investment or financial advice and does not take into account any specific investment objectives, financial situation or needs. This is not an offer to provide asset management services, is not a recommendation or an offer or solicitation to buy, hold or sell any security or to execute any agreement for portfolio management or investment advisory services and this material has not been prepared in connection with any such offer. Before making any investment decision you should consider, with the assistance of a financial advisor, your individual investment needs, objectives and financial situation.
We have taken reasonable care to ensure that this material is accurate, current, and complete and fit for its intended purpose and audience as at the date of publication. To the extent this material contains any measurements or data related to environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors, these measurements or data are estimates based on information sourced by the relevant investment team from third parties including portfolio companies and such information may ultimately prove to be inaccurate. No assurance is given or liability accepted regarding the accuracy, validity or completeness of this material and we do not undertake to update it in future if circumstances change.
To the extent this material contains any expression of opinion or forward-looking statements, such opinions and statements are based on assumptions, matters and sources believed to be true and reliable at the time of publication only. This material reflects the views of the individual writers only. Those views may change, may not prove to be valid and may not reflect the views of everyone at First Sentier Investors.
To the extent this material contains any ESG related commitments or targets, such commitments or targets are current as at the date of publication and have been formulated by the relevant investment team in accordance with either internally developed proprietary frameworks or are otherwise based on the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) Paris Aligned Investment Initiative framework. The commitments and targets are based on information and representations made to the relevant investment teams by portfolio companies (which may ultimately prove not be accurate), together with assumptions made by the relevant investment team in relation to future matters such as government policy implementation in ESG and other climate-related areas, enhanced future technology and the actions of portfolio companies (all of which are subject to change over time). As such, achievement of these commitments and targets depend on the ongoing accuracy of such information and representations as well as the realisation of such future matters. Any commitments and targets set out in this material are continuously reviewed by the relevant investment teams and subject to change without notice.
About First Sentier Investors
References to ‘we’, ‘us’ or ‘our’ are references to First Sentier Investors, a global asset management business which is ultimately owned by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. Certain of our investment teams operate under the trading names FSSA Investment Managers, Stewart Investors, RQI Investors and Igneo Infrastructure Partners, all of which are part of the First Sentier Investors group.
We communicate and conduct business through different legal entities in different locations. This material is communicated in:
- Australia and New Zealand by First Sentier Investors (Australia) IM Ltd, authorised and regulated in Australia by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (AFSL 289017; ABN 89 114 194311)
- European Economic Area by First Sentier Investors (Ireland) Limited, authorised and regulated in Ireland by the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI reg no. C182306; reg office 70 Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, Dublin 2, Ireland; reg company no. 629188)
- Hong Kong by First Sentier Investors (Hong Kong) Limited and has not been reviewed by the Securities & Futures Commission in Hong Kong. First Sentier Investors, FSSA Investment Managers, Stewart Investors, RQI Investors and Igneo Infrastructure Partners are the business names of First Sentier Investors (Hong Kong) Limited.
- Singapore by First Sentier Investors (Singapore) (reg company no. 196900420D) and this advertisement or material has not been reviewed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. First Sentier Investors (registration number 53236800B), FSSA Investment Managers (registration number 53314080C), Stewart Investors (registration number 53310114W), RQI Investors (registration number 53472532E) and Igneo Infrastructure Partners (registration number 53447928J) are the business divisions of First Sentier Investors (Singapore).
- Japan by First Sentier Investors (Japan) Limited, authorised and regulated by the Financial Service Agency (Director of Kanto Local Finance Bureau (Registered Financial Institutions) No.2611)
- United Kingdom by First Sentier Investors (UK) Funds Limited, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (reg. no. 2294743; reg office Finsbury Circus House, 15 Finsbury Circus, London EC2M 7EB)
- United States by First Sentier Investors (US) LLC, authorised and regulated by the Securities Exchange Commission (RIA 801-93167)
- other jurisdictions, where this document may lawfully be issued, by First Sentier Investors International IM Limited, authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA ref no. 122512; Registered office: 23 St. Andrew Square, Edinburgh, EH2 1BB; Company no. SC079063).
To the extent permitted by law, MUFG and its subsidiaries are not liable for any loss or damage as a result of reliance on any statement or information contained in this document. Neither MUFG nor any of its subsidiaries guarantee the performance of any investment products referred to in this document or the repayment of capital. Any investments referred to are not deposits or other liabilities of MUFG or its subsidiaries, and are subject to investment risk, including loss of income and capital invested.
© First Sentier Investors Group
Investment involves risks. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Refer to the offering documents of the respective funds for details, including risk factors. Investors may not get back the full amount invested.
This website is issued by First Sentier Investors (Hong Kong) Limited and has not been reviewed by the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong. First Sentier Investors, FSSA Investment Managers, Stewart Investors, RQI Investors and Igneo Infrastructure Partners are the business names of First Sentier Investors (Hong Kong) Limited.
Copyright © 2025 Stewart Investors.