EUROPE - Dutch pension funds have said they would be unwilling and unable to contribute to a financial rescue plan for Greece, as some euro-zone finance ministers would have them do.

The three largest schemes - ABP, PFZW and PMT, which have combined assets of almost €380bn - told IPE they had already offloaded their Greek government bonds last year and now have no intention of buying new ones.

In his blog, Peter Borgdorff, director of the €100bn healthcare scheme PFZW, said: "Greece should not be rescued with our pension assets, which are meant for a proper pension for our participants. We will say 'no' if the Dutch finance minister rings us."

The healthcare scheme conceded it still had more than €40m in Greek credits in its portfolio - "but, on the other hand, we have invested €6.4bn in Dutch credits and government bonds," Borgdorff said.

Although the €242bn civil service scheme ABP has sold all its Greek government bonds, it is still holding approximately €550m worth of Greek index-linked bonds.

ABP spokeswoman Jos van Dijk said: "Because these index-linked bonds have a duration until 2025, they are not of much use for the moment."

Annemieke Biesheuvel, spokeswoman for the €37bn metal scheme PMT, said: "We have sold all our Greek government bonds, and our risk policy doesn't provide for risky fixed income investments."

She added that the pension fund had received numerous phone calls from worried participants, who urged the scheme not to take part in any Greek rescue.

According to the Pension Federation - the umbrella for lobbying organisations VB, OPF and UvB - Dutch pension funds have divested almost all of their holdings in Greek government bonds.

The representative body is therefore not planning to formulate a joint position on the issue and will leave the matter to individual pension funds, said spokeswoman Linda van der Heyden.

However, she stressed that there was no legal obligation for pension funds to contribute to the financial rescue of Greece.

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