Vijf jaar Wet versterking bestuur pensioenfondsen. Waar staan we?

Mrs. Van Vollenhoven is director pension fund supervision at Dutch Central Central Bank. The theme of her presentation was whether and how the governnce measures taken in 2014 have shown effect on the quality of pension fund management.

Compared to leadership positions at banks and insurance companies Dutch Central Bank rejects relatively more applicants fort he position of pension fund trustee, particularly trustees who oversee investment management.

A pension fund must be well prepared before it subjects a candidate for the role of pension fund trustee to examination by Dutch Central Bank.  

In addition to the Act the European Directive IORP 2 promotes the enhancement of risk management at the trustee level. At the investment management level this Directive requires a pension fund must have a policy on environmental, social and governance factors as part of assessing investment risk.

‘Me Too’ en het pensioenfonds als belegger

Mr. Warringa works at the law firm of Grant & Eisenhofer which specialises in class actions. His presentation was about recovering damages pension funds occur in their capacity of investment managers, holding listed equities, as a result of behaviour that has come to light thanks tot he ‘Me Too’ movement.

Pension funds could claim reputational damages from the affected companies in which they invest and which are subject to ‘Me Too’. Damages occur as a result of legal investigations, or that it’s harder and costlier to retain qualified management and staff at the affected companies.

Grant & Eisenhofer works on a ‘no cure, no pay’ basis. Pension funds could join the class actions the firm prepares and receive part of the total value of damages if a court case has proven successful.

Brexit: scenario’s voor pensioenfondsen

Corné van Zeijl, “Brexit: scenarios for pension funds”

Mr. Van Zeijl is analyst and strategist at Actiam. His presentation gave pension funds insight on how to prepare for Brexit in connection with investment risks and opportunities.

For example, companies such as BMW that export hundreds of thousands of cars tot he UK may get hit by Brexit, causing its stock value to drop. That’s because consumers are uncertain what Brexit will entail and might hold off buying a new car. In addition, import and export regulation is unclear at the moment.

Many of the scenarios investment managers deem relevant are already priced in, and given the political uncertainty surrounding Brexit it is very hard for pension fund to form a robust Brexit policy for their investment management activities.