About 10 years ago PVF operated as a body to run pension schemes. Its services included advice to pension plan sponsors on policy matters, management of funds’ investments, pensions administration, collection of contributions and payment of benefits. It also looked after running early retirement and disability insurance cover.
Today PVF is part of Dutch insurance group Achmea and trades as PVF Achmea. It serves 1.5m employees, for 65,000 employers, and handles payments to 265,000 pensioners. PMI is its largest pension client.
When it became part of Achmea in 1997, its activities were divided into asset management and pension administration, with the asset management business merging with Achmea’s to form Achmea Global Investors. Achmea is also the largest health insurer in the Netherlands and fourth in life and pensions operations. Its income in 2000 amounted to NLG14.7bn (e6.7bn).
Since November 2000, Achmea has been part of the Eureko network of insurers, which includes Seguros e Pensoes in Portugal, Friends First in Ireland, with a 41% stake in PZU in Poland, a 92% stake in Union Insurance in Slovakia and 98% of Interamerican in Greece. It is now the 15th largest insurance group in Europe, ranked by premiums. At the end of December its assets amounted to E49bn.
Early in 2001, Eureko acquired F&C Management in London from HypovereinsBank. The aim is to concentrate the asset management activities of it operating companies within F&C. Achmea is transferring the asset management operations Achmea Global Investors to F&C and is changing this company’s name to F&C Netherlands.

Topics