The Pension Fund as a Digital Service Provider

Prof. dr. Felix Janszen discussed the process of transformation of a pension fund that deploys information technology merely as supportive to its organisational processes to a full on digital service provider.

This requires a strategic view of the board of trustees and i twill have impact on the organisation, its people, processes and culture.

He developed D-TIME :Data Driven Transition, Tranformation, Innovation Management Engine. It helps fort he board and management to remain in control of the transtional process tot he digital information and the pension fund will not be run by IT-consultants, who remain in a supportive role. 

The transformational process to digital service provider has got three phases:

1. diagnostic; where are we now, what is good, what do we miss, what needs work
2. change;
3. monitoring 

Digital transformation is a process of change and learning. It starts at the strategic level, board of trustees. It is wise if the board hires an external party to assist with the process.

Prof. dr. Felix Janszen and his team are specialists in this field.

Contact: felix.janszen@inpaqt.com

Guiding Plan Members on Individual Pension Investments

Florens Voogd explained how a pension fund will comply with the new Dutch legislation on pension communication.

It is now mandatory that pension plan participants are activated to assess their individual pension positions. The law does not describe how a pension fund should do this. A digital communication strategy seems to be most effective. With a digital communications strategy plan participants can be divided into various segments of gender, age and other factors, and then each addressed that is effective fort hat particular segment.

This requires strategic thinking at the board of trustees level.

Florens Voogd helps boards with this process. Contact: florens.voogd@montaepartners.nl

Decision Making on Digital Communication

Yellowtail (www.yellowtail.nl) designs products and services to give consumers such as pension plan participants tools to act and improve on their financial position. 

Yellowtail works with the board of trustees from the initial stage to the formation of the digital communication strategy. 

Digital pensions communication can be a solution for most pension funds. For example, digital customer journeys may be developed to rech various plan participants as wide ranging as a pensioned widow to a single 40 year old who wishes to take a year of to travel.

More pension funds choose digital communication as a means to stay relevant tot heir participants , who have got a wide variety of different digital service providers of finacial and pension products. 

Investing in Security

Admiral De Waard explained why it is important that pension funds invest in security.

Due to the ESG taxonomy issued by the European Commission, companies in the defence industry fin dit harder and harder to obtain finance to develop their activities. The situation in Ukraine shows the defence industry is of the essence tot he security of Europe.

Security is a UN Sustainability Goal.

The Admiral suggested the pensions sector and the Minstery of Defence meet to discuss the possibilities.

More than an outlook for 2023: Deep Water Waves

Powerful "waves" are sweeping away established assumptions, fundamentally altering the economic, political and public policy foundations for asset prices.

Mr. Catechis explored how the biggest waves are set to impact investment outcomes in the next decade.

This presentation was excusive to the seminar delegates. If you wish to obtain a summary, plrase contct Remco van Dijk by e-mail: Remco.VanDijk@franklintempleton.com

Impact Investing with Fixed Income

Michael Ganske’s presentation lays out T. Rowe Price’s thinking about impact investing in fixed income markets.

The presentation dispels common misperceptions about impact. We learn that impact can not only be achieved in private markets, but that public fixed income markets are a powerful channel for promoting change when investing. Investors should go beyond ESG-labelled bonds when aiming for impact as this widens the opportunity set and enables a more effective and efficient use of capital.

Also, impact investing implies an additional goal when investing, besides generating return, but it does not require an overhaul in the investment process. Systematic inclusionary screening of eligible issuers is key when investing in impact.