Eight Dutch pension funds transferred to the new pension system in the third quarter of 2026, bringing the total number that have made the switch up to 42 at the end of September, according to De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB).

At the end of the third quarter, Dutch pension funds managed a combined €1.63trn of assets.

Funds that have already transitioned to the new system held €566bn of the total and fall under the Pensions Future Act (WTP), while €1.06trn was managed by funds that remain subject to the Financial Assessment Framework (FTK).

The funding ratio of the FTK funds increased by 4.7 percentage points to 136.1 per cent in Q3, driven by rising interest rates and stock prices, and the downward adjustment to life expectancy in the Actuarial Society's new 2026 projection table.

The policy funding ratio, which is the average of the 12 previous monthly funding ratios, increased by 2.3 percentage points over the quarter to 130 per cent.

“Under the FTK, the funding ratio reflects the financial position of the fund as a whole, impacting both investments and liabilities,” DNB explained.

“WTP schemes operate with personal assets from which expected pensions are derived.

“Consequently, the financial position of a WTP fund cannot be unambiguously summarised in a single indicator such as the funding ratio.

“As more experience is gained by funds that have transitioned to a WTP scheme and more data becomes available, a clearer picture emerges of which indicators are the most informative and representative.”

Dutch pension funds have until 1 January 2028 to transfer accrued rights to the new pension system.

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