Respite for pension funds as ministry relaxes interest rate rules

Thursday 05 July 2012

Dozens of pension funds may be spared cutting pay-outs next year as the social affairs ministry considers changing the way a crucial interest rate is calculated, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Thursday.

A spokesman for social affairs minister Henk Kamp told the paper changes in the way interest rates are used to calculate insurance company buffers may also be applied to pension funds at the end of this year.

It is the first time the ministry has been so specific about relaxing the rules on interest rates, the paper says. Civil service pension fund ABP, one of the biggest funds in the world, also expects changes to be made.

Pension bill

The measure will form part of a package of new pension rules the minister will announce in September at the budget, the spokesman said.

The changes mean the interest rate used by pension funds to calculate their future obligations will be increased. The higher the interest rate, the less money funds need to meet their pension bills.

The health service pension fund PZW has calculated the switch will boost its coverage ratio by 10 percentage points, taking its coverage ratio to 107%, which is above the 105% statutory minimum.

Deadline

In February, the central bank said some 7.5 million Dutch people face a lower pension than they expected unless their pension funds manage to bolster their assets by the end of this year.

In total, 103 pension funds will have to take steps to improve their finances to make sure they have enough assets to meet their obligations, the bank said. The 7.5 million is made up of people who have already retired, people still in work and sleepers who have changed jobs.

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