Dow Chemical’s Dutch pension fund is preparing for a buyout of likely more than €2bn, potentially making it the second-largest pension buyout in the Netherlands after Delta Lloyd’s €3bn deal with Zwitserleven.
The Dutch pension fund of US company Dow Chemical and its employer are exploring the deal, with the fund board submitting a request for advice to the accountability body (Verantwoordingsorgaan), according to IPE’s sister publication Pensioen Pro.
The fund started investigating first quotes from insurers in August 2025 and Ed d’Hooghe, chairman of the semi-closed pension fund and HR director of Dow in Terneuzen, believes there is “good reason to do this”.
According to the fund, there is no preferred candidate yet, but there is an “appetite” from insurers.
The company pension fund, with a current funding ratio of 119.3% catering to just under five thousand participants, will be liquidated as soon as the collective value transfer has been completed.
The agreement between the employer and the works councils is that all active employees will then accrue pension in a new flexible contribution scheme with a currently unknown administrator.
Buyout market
The Dutch pension buyout market is gaining momentum as funds consider insurance as an alternative to navigating the Netherlands’ transition to its new pension system.
Dutch insurers have taken on €7bn of pension liabilities through 15 buyouts over the past two years, with smaller schemes particularly attracted to the simplicity and security of a buyout.
But the market remains much smaller than the UK’s established pension risk transfer sector. In 2025, UK bulk annuity transactions totalled £38.2bn across 367 deals in 2025, with volumes expected to exceed £40bn in 2026.
