The €251m pension fund Ford Nederland said it transferred pension rights of its participants and pensioners to insurer Aegon as of 1 January.

It announced on its website that the collective value transfer involved the pension assets of approximately 45 workers, 280 deferred members and 985 pensioners.

The scheme has been closed to new entrants since 2010, when further accrual contined under insured arrangements.

It ran an average salary scheme with conditional inflation compensation for participants affiliated with Ford Netherlands and FCE Bank as well as (former) employees and pensioners of Volvo Netherlands.

At the end of October, its funding stood at 129.7%.

In 2018, the pension fund said it could guarantee its continuity until 2020. However, it also noted that its relatively small size made it difficult to negotiate benefits of scale.

It also indicated that stricter regulation and internal supervision were driving up costs, and that increased requirements for expertise were an obstacle for filling in board positions.

Dutch GP scheme to reassess indexation target

SPH, the €10bn Dutch occupational scheme for general practitioners, said it would reassess its pension arrangements, as it failed to achieve its long-term target for inflation compensation.

The pension fund said it hadn’t been able to increase its pensions for several years in line with its goal of the salary index plus 2.25%, which would have amounted to 5.15% for 2020.

It cited low interest rates, forcing the scheme to keep additional financial buffers, and said that it expected no improvement soon.

SPH said the assessment must make clear whether its current pension plan – dating from 1973 – was sustainable, and whether its indexation target needed to be reduced.

It indicated that the reassessment of the pension arrangements would also look at the need for possible adjustments following a significant increase of the number of female participants working part time.

In the past, the scheme’s population comprised almost exclusively male GPs working full time.

The fund has engaged with Albert Smolenaers of consultancy Aethiqs as an external expert to assist with the assessment process.

SPH’s funding stood at 134.5% at the end of December.

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