With the launch of the Netherlands' Centre of Pension Excellence, the Dutch have finally woken up to the reality of fierce jurisdictional rivalry.
The main focus of the new foundation will be on keeping and attracting the headquarters of financial institutions and the export of Dutch pension expertise. In short, to prevent the hollowing out of the Dutch financial sector.
Financial heavyweights such as the departing Financial Markets Authority (AFM) chairman Arthur Docters van Leeuwen and ABP's chief executive Dick Sluimers have been recruited to lead the new organisation.
Generally speaking, industry experts have welcomed the initiative, which comes at a time when the Netherlands is being compared unfavourably as a pensions jurisdiction to destinations such as Ireland, Luxembourg or Belgium.
However, some are concerned such a foundation is simply too little, too late.
Peter Kraneveld, the former head of international affairs at the €83bn PGGM pension fund, thinks a centre of excellence is "badly needed".
"It is actually too bad that this foundation comes so late, as some banks have decamped to Luxembourg already," he argues, adding it is nevertheless "better late than never". Roderick Munsters, chief investment officer of ABP, agrees: "We have paid too little attention to the marketing of our own talent and our infrastructure, and its sale," he told IPE at a conference of the Belgian association of pension fund (BVPI) in Brussels in June.
"The investment fund industry, which has left for Luxembourg, is a good example," he added.
Nonetheless, the new foundation is a step in the right direction and a sign that the conservative regime of the Dutch pension regulator, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) is changing.
The plans have encouraging the Dutch to become more creative after receiving much internal criticism since the new assessment framework (FTK) was implemented earlier this year.
While Kraneveld argues that with the new pensions law and the FTK the Netherlands has given a clear sign it is not interested in foreign companies, nor does it care about pension funds leaving. The industry is coming up with new solutions in the same vein as the new foundation.
Robert Frehnen, tax counsel at
ABP Investments, for instance, suggested in an article in the Dutch financial daily Financieel Dagblad in mid-June that the Dutch tax office should charm pension funds more.
If the Netherlands is to grow to become a European centre for pension funds, one of the key ingredients would be to become fiscally more attractive, he argues.
The points of fiscal improvement, according to Frehnen are, VAT regulations - pension funds in the Netherlands currently have to pay 19% VAT on the fees they pay to external asset managers - and transparency of regulation.
Furthermore, in a debate about the new body, Sluimers suggested all pension fund umbrella organisations should be brought together.
Peter Borgdorff, head of the association of industry wide pension funds (VB), supported the idea, pointing out his pension fund organisation had made similar suggestions over the last six years.
He said that all three pension umbrella organisations - VB, UvB and OPF - are already working together closely but that a joint office might make life easier.
"Combining our strengths is important," he said.
According to Borgdorff, the suggestion also includes bringing the pension training institute SPO and the pension ombudsman into the same building to facilitate the promotion of Dutch pension knowledge outside the country.
"It is a good idea to see whether more things can be shared, without merging, as this is a very sensitive topic for many," Munsters noted.
Munsters said he also recognises the pressure Belgium is currently placing on the Dutch pension industry and understands why some might see it as a threat.
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