Maarten van Wijk

1 week ago | ipe.com | Maarten van Wijk |Tjibbe Hoekstra

Jacques van Dijken, the new president of PensionsEurope, wants to rid the organisation of its two-tier membership structure, giving every country equal influenceThe current distinction of A- and B-memberships at PensionsEurope, the association for European pension funds, is “artificial and archaic” and needs reform, according to the organisation’s new president Jacques Van Dijken. “The aim of PensionsEurope is to make the combined voice of the world of funded pensions heard.

2 months ago | ipe.com | Tjibbe Hoekstra |Maarten van Wijk

Trump trade war puts Dutch funding ratios under pressure By Tjibbe Hoekstra and Maarten van Wijk2025-04-10T10:00:00 The short-term shock is extra relevant for Dutch funds, as they want to make the transition to a new defined contribution arrangement with comfortable funding ratios

Dec 2, 2024 | ipe.com | Tjibbe Hoekstra |Maarten van Wijk

Dutch insurance firm Achmea and US investment firm Sixth Street Partners are merging their pension activities into a new joint venture that will enter the buyout market for Dutch pension funds. Achmea will initially have a stake of 80% in the new joint venture, which will pool the business of Lifetri and the pension and life insurance activities of Achmea. Sixth Street will get a 20% stake for bringing in Lifetri’s €2bn in pension and life assets as well as paying a sum of €445m to Achmea.

Nov 25, 2024 | ipe.com | Maarten van Wijk

Dutch supermarket chain Ahold Delhaize will buy out its sponsorship guarantee to its company pension scheme. At the end of this year, €155m will be paid into the €5.7bn pension scheme’s coffers. According to the current defined benefit (DB) arrangement of Ahold Delhaize Pensioen, the firm must make additional payments to the fund if its funding ratio drops below 104.6%. The last time that happened was at the end of 2020, when Ahold Delhaize paid €122m to its pension fund.

Nov 20, 2024 | ipe.com | Maarten van Wijk

The pension fund of oil major BP is planning to start a new defined contribution (DC) arrangement for its Dutch employees with a Dutch pension provider, according to Peter Paul van Tilborg, HR director at BP’s Dutch branch, and director of the BP pension fund in Belgium. The fund is also considering a buyout to a Dutch insurer for its Belgium-based defined benefit (DB) accruals, leaving the future of its €1.6bn pension fund uncertain.