Sergio Urbani

Sergio Urbani, CEO and Director-General of Fondazione Cariplo, is regarded as a pioneer of social housing in Italy. He began working in this field in 2004 through a pilot project run by the Foundation, which laid the foundations for the sector’s subsequent development in the country.

Through Fondazione Housing Sociale (FHS), established for this purpose by Fondazione Cariplo, the Lombardy Region and ANCI Lombardia (the association of local authorities), he has led numerous projects. These included, in 2006, the launch of the first property fund dedicated to social housing, Abitare Sociale 1, with an initial endowment of 85 million euros, followed by others such as Parma Social House, Abitare Sostenibile Piemonte and Emilia-Romagna Social Housing, as well as various public-private partnership projects that have helped to define the standards and investment criteria for this type of fund.

The first fund, established in 2006, is now known as the Fondo Immobiliare di Lombardia and manages assets worth over €1 billion.
Her work has focused on university accommodation, particularly in Milan, and the construction and development of community services within social housing projects. Under her leadership, Fondazione Housing Sociale has established itself as a driving force for innovation and advocacy in support of policy development and initiatives.

From 2012 to 2014, she served as Co-Managing Director of CDP Investimenti SGR, the real estate asset management company of the CDP Group – a national development agency – where she oversaw the activities of the national fund of funds dedicated to social housing, the Fondo Investimenti per l’Abitare (FIA), which she helped to design and launch.

In 2019, whilst serving as General Manager of Fondazione Cariplo – a position he had held since 2015 – he managed the spin-off operation that led to the creation of REDO SGR Società Benefit, a property fund management company specialising in urban regeneration and social and student housing, currently owned by Fondazione Cariplo, Intesa Sanpaolo, Cassa Forense, Kryalos, Fondazione del Monte di Lombardia and LUM Libera Unione Mutualistica. Subsequently, he oversaw the merger between REDO and Euromilano, which was completed in January 2026 with the formation of the NEAR Group.

Before joining Fondazione Cariplo, he gained professional experience at ABN AMRO Corporate Finance (2000–2004), Deloitte & Touche Corporate Finance (1999–2000), Bocconi University – where he was a research fellow at the Institute of Industrial and Commercial Business Economics – and Bankers Trust International.

Sergio Urbani holds a degree in Business Economics and has completed a specialisation course in Corporate Tax Law at Bocconi University in Milan; he was a reserve officer in the Guardia di Finanza.