Dutch Pension fund SNS Reaal has announced it will postpone its transition to the new Dutch pension system until 1 January 2028, as the current schedule is not feasible for its administrator, Blue Sky Group.

SNS Reaal explained that Blue Sky Group not only looks after SNS Reaal’s pension administration but also other funds, and given the complexity of the new arrangements of all those customers, it requires extra IT capacity.

Due to these constraints, Blue Sky Group concluded that proceeding with the planned schedule for SNS Reaal and various other funds was not feasible. The administrator has since notified the fund of a one-year postponement.

The fund expressed disappointment in the delay, stating that "postponement is certainly not our preference" and noted that the board has debated the issue for a long time.

However, the fund noted it is “very important” that the IT system is completely in order, as this is one of the requirements for it to properly transfer the pensions of all its participants to the new system.

After investigation and coordination with Blue Sky Group, SNS Reaal “unfortunately has no choice” but to postpone the switch to the new pension system from 1 January 2027 until 1 January 2028. BSG confirmed that they can meet that date.

This is not an isolated case, as several other Dutch funds have announced they are also postponing their transition to the new system due to administrator capacity.

Earlier this year, Aon reported that 78 pension funds adjusted their transition dates, with 44 funds opting to delay their previously set 1 January 2026 deadline.

Aon suggested that the current schedules for transitioning are "ambitious" and raised concerns over the challenges facing administrators, particularly given the timeframes and the different skill set needed in this process.

Stichting Pensioenfonds Medisch Specialisten (SPMS), the Dutch pension fund for medical specialists, is one example of a fund that announced it will delay the implementation of the new Dutch pension system due to capacity pressures at its administrator APG.

SPMS are now planning to switch between 1 July 2027 and 1 January 2028, instead of 1 January 2027 as initially intended.

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