NETHERLANDS - Dutch asset managers saw their European institutional assets under management increase by 8.4% in 2011 to more than €696bn, according to IPE’s Top 400 Asset Managers 2012 survey.

Almost all Dutch asset managers reported an increase over the period, with Kempen Capital Management seeing a 36.6% rise to €15.7bn, and SNS Asset Management entering the market with €5bn of managed assets.

APG, the pensions provider of the €261bn civil service pension fund ABP, attributed the growth of its assets from €271bn to €284bn last year mainly to returns on investments.

Ronald Wuijster, chief client officer, said approximately €2bn of those assets came from contributions from APG clients, while a €1bn increase was due to the merger of pension fund Volker Wessels with one of its clients - the large pension fund for the building industry, BpfBouw.

 

 

 

 

 

 

He also announced that separate mandates for individual clients would no longer fit within APG’s investment approach.

“We believe in integral asset management and are convinced that an overall solution leads to better results than the combined returns on individual investments,” he said.

Wuijster also said the pension fund was interested in concluding asset management contracts with its four clients that have placed their pensions administration with APG exclusively. Combined, these schemes have more than €11bn in assets.

Meanwhile, Bob Rädecker, public markets CIO at the €125bn pension funds service provider PGGM, said the returns on investment for its six clients drove the €12bn increase in its managed assets.

“Last year was a good investment year, with falling long-term interest rates leading to high returns on fixed income exposure,” he said, adding that structured credits, private property and private equity had also performed well.

Rädecker also said some private market mandates from SPH, the €7.4bn pension fund for general practitioners, also contributed to the growth in PGGM’s assets.

This followed the strategic alliance forged last year between PGGM and SPH’s pensions provider DPFS.

Rogier Krens, CIO at Syntrus Achmea Asset Management, also attributed the nearly 15% growth in his company’s AUM (€60bn) to the increasing value of its assets.

Krens cited the effect of falling interest rates on government bonds and interest derivatives, as well as favourable credit spreads.

“In addition,” he said, “our parent company Achmea has awarded us with the management of its derivatives portfolio, as well as the active management of its €1bn alternatives holdings.”

The assets accrual at Syntrus Achmea AM more than offset last year’s loss of the €2bn mandate from Levensmiddelen, the pension fund for the grocery sector, which left for Kempen Capital Management.

The only loss in AUM was reported at ING Investment Management, where European institutional assets fell by €1.2bn to €52.7bn.

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