Investment management

Pension funds invest with the aim of ensuring that the contributions paid in by the participants today will provide a good income in retirement. The investment horizon is therefore extremely long. Pension funds invest both in the Netherlands and internationally in various types of investment that will continue to have value in the long term. The balance between return and risk is the central issue here.

The assets of the Dutch pension funds have almost doubled over the past 10 years.

Source: DNB table 8.3 Pension funds balance sheet according to Financial Assessment Framework (FTK) dated 19 September 2019

Source: DNB table 8.3 Pension funds balance sheet according to Financial Assessment Framework (FTK) dated 19 September 2019

Geographical spread of investments

Dutch pension funds invest approximately 13% of their assets in the Netherlands. The other 87% are invested in other countries, see figure 1.17 (source: OECD (2019), Pension Markets in Focus, www.oecd.org/daf/fin/private-pensions/pensionmarketsinfocus.htm).

The percentage of investments in the Netherlands is higher in the investment categories of real estate, infrastructure and fixed-income securities (22%, 16% and 17% respectively). The majority of the assets invested in equities and private equity are invested in other countries (98% and 94% respectively).

^{Source: OECD - Figure 1.17. Assets in funded and private pension plans invested abroad in 2008 (or first year available) and 2018 (or latest year available)}