ABP reports negative return H1 2008
17 July 2008

Written by Sophie Baker

The first half of 2008 brought a return on investments of -5.1 per cent for the Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP (ABP).

As a result, the assets held by ABP are now valued at €205bn, while the value of the nominal pension liabilities saw little change and remains at €155bn. ABP’s coverage ratio was 132 per cent.

The most important negative contributions to the fund investment portfolio and investments came from equities at -14.8 per cent and real estate at -8.0 per cent. Alternative investments made a positive contribution to the overall result, and the return on commodities was high at +44.1 per cent. Hedge funds contributed +7.2 per cent, private equity +3.0 per cent, and infrastructure +1.3 per cent.

Elco Brinkman, chairman of the board of trustees of ABP, commented: “The ABP Pension Fund is also not immune to the effects of the credit crisis. The actual amount of damage done to our financial position has remained relatively limited primarily due to the fact that, over the past years, we have significantly increased our investments in so-called alternative investments, such as commodities, hedge funds, private equity and infrastructure. Our biggest concern now stems from a stagnating economy in combination with an increase in inflation that is impacting overall sentiment.”

The board of trustees will take a decision on indexing 2009 on the basis of the coverage ration as of 31 October 2008.