The Dutch Association of Private Equity Companies (NVP) has opposed a proposal to require EU pension funds to invest at least 2% of their assets in venture capital.
“We believe it would be better if pension funds could decide their investment policies themselves. Venture capital is not a suitable investment for every pension fund,” said NVP’s Felix Zwart, responding to the proposal by IORP II rapporteur and Volt MEP Damian Boeselager to introduce a mandatory minimum allocation.
Zwart also questioned whether the European venture capital market could absorb the level of investment implied by the proposal.
“It is also questionable whether venture capital in Europe could absorb investments of this magnitude,” he said.
According to Zwart, there may not be enough promising start-ups to attract such a large increase in capital.
If Boeselager’s proposal were adopted, Dutch pension funds, which collectively manage more than €1.9trn in assets, would have to allocate around €38bn to venture capital.
By comparison, Dutch pension funds had invested around €1.2bn in Dutch start-up funds at the end of 2025, according to NVP data.
A version of this article appeared in Pensioen Pro, IPE’s Dutch sister publication. It was translated and adapted for IPE by Tjibbe Hoekstra.
