The Dutch pension scheme, Pensioenfonds Metaal en Techniek (PMT), has seen its coverage ratio increase from 89.6 per cent to 92.1 per cent in Q3 2020.

It stated that they main driver behind the increase was due to its new survival principles being incorporated into its calculation.

This has caused the scheme’s liabilities to decrease by approximately €0.2bn to €97.1bn.

Its assets increased by €2.4bn to €89.5bn, while its investment return for Q3 was 2.5 per cent.

PMT’s funding ratio also rose, by 2 percentage points to 92.2 per cent.

PMT employee chairman, Joe Brocken, warned that although the scheme’s funding ratio had increased, that had not alleviated concerns about the potential “imminent reduction” in pensions of its participants.

“The corona pandemic is causing great economic uncertainty,” he continued. “The persistently low interest rates are not only worrying us now but also in the transition phase to the new system.

“It is good that [Dutch Minister for Social Affairs and Employment, Wouter] Koolmees has indicated that he sees the need for a different financial assessment framework during this phase.

“I hope that it will soon become clear how this will be done for the coming years so that we can inform our participants in time and remove the unrest and uncertainty.

“There is already an agreement for 2021, namely that we do not have to reduce it if the funding ratio is above 90 per cent. We will only know at the beginning of 2021 whether the pensions should be reduced at PMT.”

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