The five Dutch pension funds that converted defined benefit (DB) accruals to defined contribution (DC) capital in the first half of 2025 will increase pensions between 0.6% and 2.7% this year.
These so-called frontrunners are, hence, unable to keep up with inflation.
According to the Dutch statistics agency CBS, the average inflation amounted to 3.3% in 2025. The increases also lag behind those of most pension funds that have not (yet) switched to DC; according to an analysis by Pensioen Pro, IPE’s Dutch sister publication, pensioners will receive an average pension increase of about 2.5% this year.
Of all five funds, PWRI is awarding by far the most indexation to its pensioners. Pensions at the sector pension fund for disabled workers have increased by 2.71% as of 1 January, the same as the investment return for pensioners.
PWRI is the only one of the frontrunner funds that does not spread out the investment result over several years.
This so-called ‘spreading’ is the reason that the other four frontrunners increased pensions considerably less this year.
For example, the investment return for pensioners at APG’s employee pension fund was 2%, but pensions are increased by only a third of that (0.67%).
At the occupational pension fund for shipping pilots, another frontrunner, pensions can be increased by 1.2% in April, based on the state of play at the end of November.
However, the fund uses its return at year-end to determine the amount of indexation given; this means the pension increase will likely be higher than 1.2%, given the positive investment return in December.
The same goes for Pensioenfonds Openbare Bibliotheken, the pension fund for librarians of public libraries.
Calm and stability
There are several reasons to opt for “spreading” indexation over three years, according to Rajesh Grobbe, director of thepension fund for shipping pilots. “This provides more calm and stability,” he said. After all, it reduces the chance of benefit cuts in the following years.
The downside is that pensions can be increased considerably less this year and next year than if, as with PWRI, no spreading is applied.
“As a result, we expect to lag behind our indexation ambition, which is 80% of the consumer price index, in the next two years. Without spreading, pensions could be increased by 3.6%; more than the indexation ambition,” Grobbe added.
Difficult to compare
Whether or not to apply spreading is not the only thing that makes it difficult to compare the pension increases of the various frontrunner funds.
For example, the public libraries’ pension fund bases its pension increase on a period of only six months (July to December 2025), because it only switched to a DC arrangement on 1 July.
At PWRI and the staff fund of pension provider APG, this period is nine months since the last quarter of 2025 is not included.
Only the shipping pilots fund bases its calculations on the whole of 2025, but it will not implement the increase until 1 July, after completing its annual accounts.
The fund for librarians will increase pensions as of 1 April. PWRI, the APG personnel fund and the Holland Casino circle (part of the pooled pension fund Stap) have already increased pensions as of 1 January.
This article was first published on Pensioen Pro, IPE’s Dutch sister publication. It was translated and adapted for IPE by Tjibbe Hoekstra.
