ICT scheme to place pension rights with PNO, De Nationale APF

TrueBlue, the €465m Dutch pension fund for the ICT sector, said it will place accrued pension rights with both the sector scheme PNO Media and the consolidation vehicle De Nationale APF as of 1 May.

It said it will transfer €436m of pension rights accrued under average salary arrangements (DB) to De Nationale APF, which has been established by NN Investment Partners and AZL, also part of NN Group.

The remaining €29m of pension rights accrued in a defined contribution plan will be placed with the €6.7bn non-mandatory industry-wide pension fund PNO Media.

Rob de Ridder, secretary of TrueBlue, said the DB pensions will be placed in a multi-client compartment – also open to other pension funds and employers – within De Nationale APF.

Margreet Theunissen, executive chair of De Nationale APF, said TrueBlue also used the services of NN IP and AZL.

“Also because our flexible administration platform, we could offer a smooth continuation of services,” she added.

According to De Ridder, PNO Media was the preferred candidate for taking over the DC pensions “because of its responsible investment approach as well as the possibility if offered our participants to choose their risk profile based on lifecycle investment”.

Last year, TrueBlue had decided to continue further pensions accrual with PNO Media.

Nelly Altenburg, chair of PNO Media, said TrueBlue’s move gives its new hybrid pension plan DC lifecycle, “which combines the benefits of DB with DC”, a flying start.

Under this plan, both the worker and the employer pay an age-dependent fixed percentage of the pensionable salary for individual pensions accrual through lifecycle investment.

At retirement, participants can buy a pension from PNO Media, which enables them to continue collectively investing the remaining assets in the pension fund.

Altenburg told IPE that many employers and other pension funds were showing much interest in PNO Media’s new hybrid plan, but that none had committed to joining yet.

TrueBlue has 2,700 active participants, 5,100 deferred members and 600 pensioners, who are affiliated with 99 employers in the digital sector. At year-end, its funding stood at 97.4%.

De Nationale APF implements the pension arrangements of 27,000 participants and pensioners for five clients. Its assets under management total €3bn.

PNO Media is the provider for 17,000 workers, 31,000 deferred participants and 10,000 pensioners affiliated with 400 companies in the creative sector.