The Dutch Parliament expects to release – in October at the latest – the results of a study on the short and long-term effects of new financial rules on local pension funds.
The study will also address the effects of the recently adjusted ultimate forward rate (UFR), according to Jetta Klijnsma, state secretary at the Ministry of Social Affairs.
The new supervisory framework for Dutch pension funds, or financieel toetsingskader, was introduced at the start of this year, while changes in the UFR were introduced by supervisor De Nederlandsche Bank in July.
In response to parliamentary questions last week, Klijnsma said pension fund liabilities were expected to rise by 2.8 percentage points next year as a result of the adjusted UFR.
This increase is largely in line with previous statements by the DNB stating that the adjusted UFR was likely to reduce funding ratios by 3 percentage points.
Separately, Klijnsma rejected a request to specify the results for ABP, the largest pension fund in the Netherlands.
She said there was “no place for conclusions regarding a single fund” and that the study would be a general one, in which the Dutch Pensions Federation would participate.
She added that the month of October had been chosen for the study’s release because Dutch pension funds tend to set out the level of their pension premiums over this period.
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