The financial crisis shows that pension funds are more vulnerable than thought and not geared up to deal with major economic problems, the Financieele Dagblad on Tuesday quotes a government commission as saying.

The committee is looking into pension funds’ investment policies. In recent years, funds have shifted large chunks of their investments into shares, which crumbled in value during the crisis.
Most of the country’s pension funds saw their assets fall below government approved limits and were forced to freeze payouts and increase premiums to get their investments back on track.
The paper quotes sources as saying the committee believes the funds are not yet safe because the demands on their reserves is increasing as the population gets older.
The sources say pension funds need to improve their risk management, improve their professionalism and give more autonomy to the management board.
The recommendations are due to be published on Tuesday afternoon.