The assets under management (AUM) of Dutch pension fund investment manager APG fell by €15bn in 2025, as it posted a -1.6 per cent loss.

Its annual report for the year revealed that at the end of 2025, it had €601bn assets under management on behalf of the four pension funds it invests for (ABP, BpfBouw, SPW and PPF APG).

This is down from €616bn at the end of 2024. The decrease in AUM was attributed to developments in the financial markets.

APG said that although solvency improved during the year, the absolute returns for the pension funds were modest.

“This was due in part to a steepening of the yield curve and a rise in long-term interest rates in the eurozone. This put pressure on fixed-income securities, particularly those with longer duration. In addition, non-listed assets lagged behind the returns on public equities,” the report stated.

Furthermore, APG recorded a negative excess return of −209 basis points for the total portfolio and −302 basis points for active investments in 2025, which falls below its ambitions.

Over the five-year period since the beginning of 2021, the average excess return relative to benchmarks amounted to −74 basis points per year across total assets under management and −349 basis points for the actively managed portfolio.

“Our objective is to create as much pension value as possible for the pension funds we serve. That is why we aim to generate maximum excess returns within acceptable risk boundaries. The current picture falls below these ambitions and has caused us to reassess a number of strategies,” it stated.

It said the negative results are partly due to differing annual dynamics between listed benchmarks and valuation-based pricing of illiquid investments.

APG Asset Management CEO, Ronald Wuijster, said: “Last year was a fairly challenging year for us in the markets. For our four clients, APG Asset Management achieved an average negative return of between 1 per cent and 2 per cent.

“This was mainly due to rising interest rates, which led to price declines in fixed income assets, and weaker returns in private markets. The higher interest rates did improve funding ratios, however, making the negative return less pronounced. A rising funding ratio is also beneficial in the transition to the renewed pension system.”

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