Introduction General Pension Fund
Last update: December 16, 2016
As of January 1, 2016, the general pension fund (APF) was introduced. This fund facilitates a new combination of different pension schemes in so-called ‘rings’. This facilitates all kinds of benefits in the interest of the participants, such as reducing administrative burdens and decreasing costs related to asset management and administration. Each ring has its own investment policy and indexation target. As in every other pension fund, the board is responsible for a balanced consideration of the interests of all parties involved. Although many APF’s are established by insurers, an APF must be able to make decisions independently. The insurers try to use an APF to expand their asset management and administration systems.
Like other types of pension funds, an APF falls under the authority of the new Financial Assessment Framework (nFTK). Pension insurers are under Solvency II supervision. Within the nFTK it is possible to decrease pension benefits, but a pension insurer can do this only as a last resort in case of bankruptcy. As pension insurers are required to offer more security, they demand higher guarantee contributions and will make less risky investments with the pension assets. As a result, contributions at an insurer are usually higher and the risk of additional charges is lower. However, the risk of decreased pension benefits is also lower.
The General Pension Funds that have a licence from Regulator Dutch Central Bank (DNB) are:
- STAP is the first general pension fund in the Netherlands. DNB gave its approval on June 17, 2016. STAP was established with a starting capital from pension administrator TKP and insurer Aegon.
- On July 18, 2016, Centraal Beheer General Pension Fund received the licence from DNB.
- Het Nederlandse Pensioenfonds, founded by insurer ASR, received the licence from DNB on September 30, 2016.
- The National APF, founded by NN Investement Partners and pension adminitrator AZL, can operate officially since November 4, 2016.
- The fifth General Pension Fund receiving a licence is Volo Pension, established by pension administrator PGGM. The licence was received November 23, 2016.
- Delta Lloyd General Pension Fund (Delta Lloyd APF) announced on December 16, 2016 that they received a licence from DNB.
