NETHERLANDS - The Dutch automotive association ANWB and several labour unions have agreed to a new proposal that will see the employer and scheme participants contribute one-third and two-thirds, respectively, of the scheme's funding shortfall.

With a coverage ratio of 90.8% at year-end, the €800m pension fund must raise its funding to the minimum required level of 105% by 1 April 2013.

The ANWB, as well as its participating subsidiaries Unigarant and Logicx, said they had promised an additional contribution of no more than €21.5m - depending on the development of the scheme's coverage ratio - in three instalments.

The parties will decide on the exact additional premium from the employers at the end of 2012, they added.

The companies' 4,670 workers in turn will face a decrease of their yearly pension accrual of between 0.15 and 0.2 percentage points to 1.6% or 2.05%, depending on their pension plan, according to the fund.

If the scheme's financial position does not improve before the end of the year, the benefits for its 1,535 pensioners and the pension rights of its 4,130 deferred participants will be cut by 1.1%, it added.

Elsewhere, the €1.2bn pension fund of shipping company Nedlloyd reported overall returns of 5.6% over 2011, 0.7 percentage points short of the benchmark.

It said that it returned 13.2% on its matching and derivatives portfolio, thanks to decreasing interest rates.

In contrast, the scheme's return portfolio generated a disappointing 0.2%, which it attributed to the turmoil on the financial markets.

The coverage ratio of the Nedlloyd Pensioenfonds was 105.3% at the end of December.

Topics