NETHERLANDS - The €6bn pension fund for the retail sector has appointed Rene Upperman as director of its new governance bureau.

Upperman has been director of the Dutch pension fund for IT firm Atos Origin for the past 10 years but he will take up the mantle at the retail scheme from 1 July, the scheme said.

The Stichting Bedrijfstakpensioenfonds voor de Detailhandel contracts out its pension arrangements to Interpolis Pensions, while its asset management is managed by Interpolis Asset Management.

That said, the scheme is one of those to have struggled in last year's tough market conditions as the pension fund returned -13% on its investments in 2008, lowering its cover ratio dropped by 35% to 98%.

The key measure of its mandatory recovery plan - focused on a funding ratio of at least 105% within five years - is to refraining from paying indexation to members and instead require contributions of at least 15.2%.

The pension fund granted its 312,000 active participants indexation of 2.2% in 2008, whereas its 55,900 pensioners and 559,000 deferred members received compensation for inflation of 1.3%.

The scheme has over 35,800 affiliated employers.

If you have any comments you would like to add to this or any other story, contact Julie Henderson on + 44 (0)20 7261 4602 or email julie.henderson@ipe.com

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