The €520bn Dutch pension fund, ABP, has confirmed that it has temporarily reverted to its recovery plan under the current pension rules, after being unable to submit a new bridging plan for 2025.

In a statement, the fund, for workers in government and education, said that while this procedural change would not impact members’ benefits or the transition to the new Dutch pension system, it was required to resubmit a recovery plan to De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) by 1 October 2025.

ABP explained that it had intended to submit a new bridging plan this year, having done so for the first time in 2024. However, in order to do so, it first needed to file an implementation plan with DNB by 1 July 2025.

The fund said that deadline came “too soon”, as the implementation plan was not yet ready.

A new legislative proposal, which would have allowed pension funds to submit a bridging plan without an approved implementation plan, has also been delayed, preventing ABP from taking that route.

As a result, ABP has temporarily reverted to the current pension rules and was required to file a recovery plan, as its financial position remains below the threshold set by the existing framework.

At the end of 2024, ABP’s policy funding ratio stood at 113.1 per cent, below the required 126.3 per cent.

“The outcome of the recovery plan is that we will not have to reduce pensions in 2025,” the fund stated.

ABP emphasised that the change “has no impact” on pension entitlements or the transition to the new rules. The fund will decide at the end of this year whether it can increase pensions from 1 January 2026, using the government’s more flexible indexation rules.

The bridging plan, known in Dutch as the overbruggingsplan, is designed to help pension funds ensure sufficient financial buffers during the transition to the new pension system, while also providing additional scope for indexation.

ABP said it plans to submit its implementation plan in the autumn of 2025, paving the way to submit a new bridging plan in 2026.

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