Visma Idella has decided to stop offering pension administration to its Dutch pension fund clients. The company will revert to its original focus on pension software. Seven clients now have to find another provider to help them move to the new defined contribution (DC) system.
Visma Idella board member Martijn de Vries announced the decision to IPE’s Dutch sister publication Pensioen Pro in the week before Christmas after informing his customers.
The firm will continue to serve the pension funds in question until they have switched to another provider, which they will have to do before 1 January 2028, the deadline for pension funds to switch from a defined benefit (DB) to a DC arrangement.
Visma Idella currently administers pensions for five pension funds: the professional funds for Public Pharmacists and Midwives; the Hydraulic Engineering Industry Fund; and the corporate schemes Avebe and Lloyd’s Register Nederland. It also provides some services to two pooled pension schemes (APFs).
Surprised
The clients of Visma Idella are not happy with the firm’s move, it seems. Pensioenfonds Verloskundigen, the fund for midwives, has been “somewhat surprised” by the sudden announcement, said the fund’s president, Esther van Weerdenburg.
The fund was already working on a plan B for its pension administration, as it had not been satisfied with the service provided by Visma Idella. “But that planning must now be seen in a different light,” said Van Weerdenburg. The fund will now consider how to proceed, she added.
SPOA, the pension fund for Dutch pharmacists, is also not amused by the announcement, said president Selma Smit.
“We have taken note of Visma’s decision and deeply regret it. It is also a pity that Visma talked to the press so extensively about it.”
Smit also does not agree with the reasons given by De Vries, who said Visma Idella decided to quit the admin business because it could not reach an agreement with its clients about the transition to a DC arrangement.
“Negotiations are always about demands, price and time planning. We could not reach a consensus about this,” he said.
“We do not recognise ourselves in the picture that Visma paints,” retorted Smit, who declined to elaborate further.
Strange move
Pension fund clients who have to leave Visma Idella now have a big problem, according to consultants. The remaining time until 1 January 2028 is so short and the market so tight that the deadline to move to a DC arrangement may not be feasible for all pension funds.
Arno IJmker of consultancy firm Eraneos describes the timing of Visma Idella’s decision to wind down its pension administration business as a “strange move”.
He added: “Their clients for pension administration have really been put on the spot and left out in the cold.”
Funds are facing an “enormous challenge”, says Marieke Wessels of WTW. “They have to find a solution very quickly, while the options on the market are limited.”
Most pension administrators are not open for new clients at the moment, and those that are tend to prefer larger funds. The clients of Visma Idella are all relatively small, with at most several billion euros in assets under management.
IJmker outlined four possible scenarios: “Do the administration yourself, using the Visma software, but that is no easy task; look for another administrator, which will take you on only around 1 January 2028 at the earliest, which is quite exciting given the pension transition deadline. A third option is to move to a pooled pension scheme. Or – I hardly dare to say it – ask the minister of social affairs whether the pension reform deadline can be postponed.”
This article was first published on Pensioen Pro, IPE’s Dutch sister publication. It was translated and adapted for IPE by Tjibbe Hoekstra.
