The industry body for Dutch pension funds has resigned from PensionsEurope after failing to push through a management shake-up at the Brussels-based European industry umbrella association.
At an extraordinary general meeting this week, Pensioenfederatie and PensioPlus, the Belgian pension fund association, put forward plans to replace Matti Leppäla, secretary general of PensionsEurope, with Ann Verlinden, chief executive officer of PensioPlus.
These were rejected by a majority of PensionsEurope’s members, however, and the Dutch Federation of Pension Funds will end its membership of PensionsEurope as of 1 January 2026. The Belgian association, meanwhile, is considering its next steps.
A spokesperson for the Dutch Federation told IPE there was a “difference of opinion” between Pensioenfederatie and several members of PensionsEurope regarding the management of the European association’s supporting office and its strategic future and financing.
“The Dutch Federation of Pension Funds has long sought a constructive dialogue and proposed various solutions,” he added. “Unfortunately, this has not led to an agreed solution.”
Jacques van Dijken, chair of PensionsEurope, will step down before the end of the year, the Pensioenfederatie spokesperson said.
Dijken replaced Jerry Moriarty as chair of PensionsEurope earlier this year after the latter left his post early for personal reasons.
In an interview earlier this year with PensioenPro, IPE’s Dutch sister publication, Dijken said he wanted to scrap PensionsEurope’s two-tier membership structure, giving every country equal influence, and grow the industry body’s base of associate members.
He was due for re-election at PensionsEurope’s general assembly in November.
According to its spokesperson, the Dutch Federation of Pension Funds “regrets the situation”.
“At the same time, the Dutch Federation of Pension Funds, together with members and pension providers, will continue to represent the interests of the Dutch pension sector in Brussels and will also proactively participate in European policy discussions through its membership of AEIP, the umbrella organisation of paritarian institutions.”
He said Pensioenfederatie would not make any further statements on this subject.
Belgium
At PensioPlus in Belgium, Marc Van den Bosch, member of the executive committee, told IPE in an e-mail that the association believed occupational pensions play a key role in ensuring an adequate retirement income for all.
“In this sense, it should be stressed that our efforts within PensionsEurope have always been done in order to strengthen the robustness and effectiveness of PensionsEurope as a strong advocacy association for occupational pensions in Europe.”
He added: “Given that this all transpired only very recently, we believe that at this time it would not be expedient to comment any further on the matter. PensioPlus will take the time needed to see how we can continue to contribute in a constructive manner, whilst taking the best interests of our Belgian members into account.”
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