How is TNO Pension Fund doing?
Suzanne van Kooten, the director of TNO Pension Fund, shares her vision on recent developments. What stood out and what does this mean for our pension fund?
Dear reader,
My first year as director of TNO Pension Fund has flown by. That’s a great sign, and I'm still really enjoying everything. I felt very at home right from the start. Besides focusing on the transition to the new system, we’re also working hard on many other developments, such as sustainable investing. In this personal note, let’s briefly look at some recent developments.
The wars in Ukraine and Gaza continue. These wars and threats of other aggression cause enormous human suffering. Ultimately, a war only has losers, so let's hope it all ends soon. Wars also create economic uncertainties, certainly in the primaries and other elections in the United States. Will we have to deal with a new period of Trump as president? And here in the Netherlands, questions hang over the impact of the new cabinet that will be formed. Will it make changes to the new pension system?
Despite these uncertainties, the good news is that TNO Pension Fund is currently in good shape. The policy funding ratio is still above the target of 120.5%. 120.5% already gives us sufficient financial reserves to absorb asset fluctuations well. Inflation appears to be under control, even though it’s not always noticeable when doing our daily shopping. Fortunately, the fund was able to apply a 16.93% indexation last year to alleviate the suffering.
The Future Pensions Act (Wet toekomst pensioenen) was adopted last summer, so we can now work concretely on a new pension scheme. The rules governing pensions will be changing, because we want everyone to be able to draw a pension in the future. Now that the law has come into effect, there’s lots of extra work to be done. We’re gradually moving towards the new pension system. As agreed, we’ll keep you informed of developments.
Following a video message in the summer, we organized a webinar last autumn to update you on these developments around the new system. I was delighted to see the high turnout. It could mean that everyone is very interested in what’s happening with their pensions, or has a great need for information. I think it's both.
Many questions were asked during the webinar. We grouped these, and answered them as well as possible. You can find them in the Special report on the new pension system. You can also watch the webinar with English subtitles (1 hour and 15 minutes) and video message again (10 minutes) if you missed them. We will continue our work in this area, and let you know if there’s any more news. In this edition of Life & Pension, we answer 10 questions about your pension. You’ll also find many other fascinating, important, and inspiring articles.
Suzanne van Kooten, director