Building company and property developer Plegt-Vos has become the first Dutch company to place its pension arrangements with a Malta-based IORP.

It said pension rights for 80 of its employees were being accrued under defined contribution arrangements, and that the €1m scheme was run by an entirely independent board.

According to Jan Snijders, CFO at the company, the Maltese scheme is more flexible and costs less relative to the standard DC plan in the Netherlands.

The CFO said his company also had a significant say in the preferred asset mix, as well in setting criteria for sustainable investments.

He added that pension assets were invested defensively at the moment, with a 90% allocation to fixed income – including high-yield bonds – based on the participants’ preference.

Snijders indicated, however, that the company wanted to raise the equity allocation to 20%, or even 25%, once the pension assets had increased.

Asset management is being carried out by Maltese company Curmi & Partners, while Dutch KAS Bank acts as custodian.

Plegt-Vos said the board’s function had been fully outsourced to Dutch company Worldwide Pensions.

The board – consisting of three Worldwide Pensions employees – is to meet the pension committee of Plegt-Vos a “couple of times” a year. 

Richard Cok, director of Worldwide Pensions, said he was also preparing to transfer the pension arrangements of a Dutch law firm, an agricultural company and a travel agency to Malta.

He said it took more than a year in total to obtain the required approval from Dutch supervisor DNB and Maltese watchdog Malta Financial Services Authority.

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