How is TNO Pension Fund doing?
Suzanne van Kooten, the new director of TNO Pension Fund, outlines her view of the developments in the pensions world.
Dear reader,
After 15 years of discussions about the need for pension reform, the Dutch parliament recently took action. The Future Pensions Act (Wet toekomst pensioenen, WTP) entered into force on 1 July 2023. This marks a huge change for all of us: for the Fund but especially for all our members. To help you, we will be taking you through what is going to change, step by step.
Of course, we have been busy doing a lot of preparation in the background. The administrative office and the Board are closely engaged with all stakeholders: our social partners, the Accountability Body, and eTNOs. Now the legislation is in place, we can continue to shape and flesh out our new pension scheme. Everything is now becoming more tangible, which is great given that we still have a few more years before the new scheme actually comes into effect, as that takes time. Be sure to check out the video to find out more about the scheme and keep an eye on your inbox for an invitation to the webinar in October, when we’ll tell you more about the new pension arrangements.
On top of this major change, there is another small change. As you may know, I took over from Kostijn van Gerven as director of the administrative office on 1 April. So, I would like to thank Kostijn once again for everything he has done for the Fund and wonderful cooperation I had with him as chair of the Board. Even though I’ve only been in post as director for four months, I already feel I’ve settled in. Since January, I have started to focus on the new system – one of the big issues for the years ahead. Focusing on ensuring the transition goes well for members is really important to me.
But before we look further ahead, in this issue of Life & Pension I would like to look back on 2022, as July’s edition also reflects on the annual report. I would like to mention a few highlights of 2022. After a few years with good investment results and very limited indexation, the situation was rather different in 2022. The high rise in interest rates led to a significant drop in investment performance, and yet it was possible to index over 9%. This was also necessary because inflation in 2022 was higher than ever before. Fortunately, inflation is beginning to fall again, although there is still some uncertainty about how it will change from here, especially given the ongoing war in Ukraine. Another important topic in the annual report is sustainable investment, which we are doing more on, not least thanks to EU legislation. You can read more about this in the Annual Report Special in this edition. Plus, there are lots more interesting, important, and inspiring articles in this issue of Life & Pension.
Suzanne van Kooten, Director