The Dutch pension sector must become more “resilient and agile” in an uncertain world, whilst also prioritising the transition to the new system, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) president, Olaf Sleijpen, has said.
Speaking at the DNB Pension Seminar yesterday, 9 April, Sleijpen began by detailing how the world has changed as it becomes more fragmented.
“It has become more unstable and uncertain. Whereas until recently the well-understood self-interest of international cooperation and trade took precedence, the world has become increasingly fragmented. Institutions and the rule of law are under pressure, and short-term national interests dominate,” he said.
As a result, Sleijpen stressed that the pension sector “cannot ignore what is happening in the wider world”.
“The pension sector will also have to respond to this. The pension sector will also have to become more resilient and agile,” he said, whilst acknowledging that this will need to happen alongside work to switch to the new pension system.
Currently, 30 pension funds have transitioned, representing more than a third of the total assets under management.
Sleijpen highlighted the Eisenhower matrix, where the x-axis indicates whether tasks are urgent or non-urgent. The y-axis indicates whether they are important or not.
“The trick is to find the time and resources for matters that are important, even if they are less urgent. Increasing agility and resilience may not be as urgent as the transition, but it is important,” he said.
On a more positive note, however, he said the new pension contract makes funds more resilient to shocks, as benefits will adjust accordingly.
“Furthermore, the new pension product offers the possibility of better aligning the risks to which participants are exposed with their risk preferences and risk-bearing capacity. In other words: the groups that face greater risk are also better equipped to withstand it,” he said.
Moving on, he again raised the risks of cyberattacks.
“Cyberattacks, whether launched by criminals or foreign governments, pose a very serious threat. This applies to the financial sector as well, and to pension funds in particular. And unfortunately, this threat is on the rise at the moment,” he said.
He questioned how pension funds will prevent participants’ confidential data from falling into the hands of criminals, and what they would do if this became a reality.
“Funds have already done a great deal to improve their cyber resilience. However, given the seriousness of the threat, we must continue to work on this on an ongoing basis. This involves not only preventing attacks, but also detecting them and knowing what to do if an attack does occur,” he said.
As part of this, Sleijpen raised a point that he made earlier this month – that pension funds should reduce their reliance on non-European IT providers.







Recent Stories