22/07/2011
By Ilonka Oudenampsen
Coverage ratios of big pension funds in the Netherlands have remained stable in the second quarter of 2011. Positive returns were slightly subdued by slight increases in liabilities, due to a small drop in the interest rate.
While public sector scheme ABP’s coverage ratio remained stable at 112%, the coverage ratio of the metal and technology sector’s fund PMT rose by a percentage point to 102%.
Zorg en Welzijn, the health sector’s pension fund, saw its coverage ratio drop from 111% to 110%, due to a drop in the interest rate despite slightly positive returns.
The pension fund has 2.4 million members and assets of €101.9 billion. Returns in the second quarter were 0.4%, compared to 0.8% for the first half of 2011.
PME, which has 680,000 members in the metalectro sector, has also seen a decline in their coverage ratio. Despite the decrease from 99% to 98%, PME is still on track with its recovery plan, which aims to have a coverage ratio of 104.3% at the end of 2013.
The scheme also took over the pension assets of Stichting Pensioenfonds Siemens Nederland in the second quarter, which added €716 million to the fund’s assets, bringing the total to €23.3 billion. The overall return on investments in the second quarter was 0.7%, while PME also saw its liabilities rise due to a light fall in the interest rate.
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