The pension fund for the Dutch inland shipping industry (Rijn- en Binnenvaart) will transfer accruals to the pension fund for the transport sector, Bpf Vervoer. The fund had eliminated the option of a pooled pension scheme (APF) because under that option pensions could not be moved to the new defined contribution (DC) system.
Both pension funds announced the decision on Thursday. Participation in the inland shipping industry fund, which has €1.2bn under management, will no longer be mandatory from the beginning of next year, because social partners could not demonstrate sufficient representativeness of the fund.
Many small employers are not affiliated with the sector’s employers’ association. Existing accruals will be transferred to Bpf Vervoer on 1 October 2025.
“It was clear that we did not want to continue as a closed fund for the long term, partly because of the costs,” said Ronald van Oostrom, president of the inland shipping fund.
In recent months, the board investigated its options. The fund could choose between pooled pension funds (Centraal Beheer APF and De Nationale APF) and the transport sector fund.
High coverage ratio
An important selection criterion was that the new provider had to offer as much prospect as possible of a pension that can be indexed. The inland shipping fund has a relatively high coverage ratio (137% at the end of October) that makes it possible to index pensions.
“If we had chosen for an APF, it would be more difficult to use the buffer for the benefit of the participants because we would have stayed in the current DB pension system,” Van Oostrom said.
A value transfer to the transport sector fund, which has a funding ratio of 110.8%, offers the possibility of distributing most of the buffer directly to members.
“We are going to work out how to do that. We can provide a one-off increase, but we can also set up an indexation depot,” Van Oostrom continued. “Moreover, Vervoer is a large and solid fund with good plans for the future.”
Bpf Vervoer, which has more than €35bn under management, plans to move accruals to a DC arrangement, though the fund has postponed its move (originally foreseen for 1 January 2025) for an undefined period.
Voluntary scheme
Pension accruals in the inland shipping sector fund will stop at the end of this year. More than 1,000 employers are part of the scheme, which together employ about five thousand people. As employers in this sector will no longer be obliged to have a pension scheme with the fund from next year, social partners in the selected insurer Aegon for a new, voluntary DC arrangement.
Employers will also be able to voluntarily join the transport sector fund. The advantage for the participants of that option is that their pension would then remain in one hand.
“I hear that a number of employers are considering placing their pension accruals in the transport scheme,” Van Oostrom noted.
This article was first published on Pensioen Pro, IPE’s Dutch sister publication. It was translated and adapted for IPE by Tjibbe Hoekstra
No comments yet