Henk Brouwer, chairman of the €309bn civil service scheme ABP, has announced that he is to step down, citing personal reasons for his decision.

An ABP spokeswoman said Brouwer’s last day would be on 1 June, but declined to comment further on the decision.

Brouwer – an economist, and former director at supervisor De Nederlandsche Bank and top civil servant at the Treasury – started as chairman for a four-year period on 1 January 2012.

He succeeded Ed Nijpels, who was forced to leave after seven months, following his involvement on the supervisory board of Dutch DSB-Bank, which went bankrupt in 2009.

Nijpels had taken over from Harry Borghouts – a former governor of the province Noord-Holland – who also had to give up his chair because of his disputed role in the loss of a significant provincial deposit, when the Icelandic bank Landsbanki went bankrupt.

ABP’s board said that it respected Brouwer’s decision, and voiced its appreciation for his devotion to the scheme.

José Meijer and Cees de Veer, both vice chairs, would replace Brouwer until the pension fund has appointed a new chairman, according to ABP.

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