Overview of changes in 2018
What changed in 2018? We set out four changes. First of all there were a few changes to the organization and also a very important change in the pension scheme in response to a legislative amendment.
Organization: new board members
Dick Schmidt retired in December 2018 after fourteen years of chairmanship. He became chairman of the board when the pension fund was doing less well. Now that the pension fund is in relatively good shape again he’s decided to retire. Suzanne van Kooten is the new chairman of the board with Nancy Westerlaken as secretary. Deputy director Arie van Luijk also retired last July after exactly 25 years. Hans Veltman is taking over from him. He made the switch from the Board to the Administrative Office. Michiel Plaisier is another new face on the Board. These and all the other personnel changes are covered in the annual report.
We gained a Supervisory Board in 2018. This is an important step in the mandatory changes to our internal supervision. Since 2018, pension funds with invested assets of more than 1 billion euros have been obliged to install a Supervisory Board. This Supervisory Board replaces the Review Committee and started in the second half of 2018. You can read more about this in the annual report.
Organization: Supervisory Board
Organization: new Accountability Body
In and around Pensioenfonds TNO there are many stakeholders who are committed to contributing to the quality of a future-proof pension scheme. The Accountability Body (AB) is a good example of this. A new AB started on 1 July following expiry of its term of office. The AB assesses whether the Board takes the interests of all generations into account in a balanced manner. We're very pleased to be critically monitored in this way. A sound balancing of interests is of paramount importance to TNO Pension Fund.
Pension scheme: 68 years
In 2018 the fiscal retirement age was raised to 68 ‘Fiscal’ refers to the computation age. It is assumed that you will accrue pension rights until you reach the age of 68, after which you will receive a lifelong pension. If you retire early, your pension is lower. This is because the fiscal retirement age is not the same as the state pension age.
Something else has changed as well. Until 2015, you accrued pension until you reached the age of 65. In 2015 that was raised to 67 years and in 2018 to 68. Having three pension pots, each with a different starting age, does not make things any clearer. That's why we have joined these three pension pots together. That way you can see more clearly what you’ll receive when you reach the age of 68: no bad thing. We explained this aspect in detail during the site visits in 2017 and 2018.