The Netherlands’ Ministry of Social Affairs will start a “large-scale” PR campaign to promote the new DC pension system on 21 August. Some large pension funds have promised to lend the ministry a helping hand.

“There is only one message for 2023 and that is that our pension system is going to change so that pensions remain good for everyone,” said Dennis van Steijn, senior communications adviser at the ministry in a webinar for communication professionals on Tuesday. This message will be spread via TV and radio commercials and across the internet between 21 August and 10 September. In October, another series of commercials will be aired.

ABP, PFZW and PME said they will assist in bringing the message across. “The campaign is a nice initiative to join. We will continue to share their posts through social media where possible,” said a PFZW spokesperson. In September, the healthcare fund will start publishing a series of videos with a number of frequently asked questions from participants about the new system.

The same applies to the civil service scheme ABP. “We will support the national campaign as much as possible through our own channels and add our own stories to it. For now, it will be more general information and information about the process. It is still too early to tell participants specifically what they can expect from the new pension system,” according to a spokesperson.

PME is preparing new communication messages to inform participants through all channels. In addition, the fund is organising information meetings.

Website

Another important communication tool deployed by the ministry is the website Pensioenduidelijkheid.nl (pensionclarity.nl). This replaces the Onsnieuwepensioen.nl (ournewpension.nl) website with immediate effect. All the information from the previous website has been transferred to the new site. “From today, Dutch citizens can find more information here about the new pension rules, what will change for them, what the timing is, how the process works and where they can find more information about their own pension,” Van Steijn said.

This article was first published on Pensioen Pro, IPE’s Dutch sister publication. It was translated and adapted for IPE by Tjibbe Hoekstra.

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