All articles by Sameer van Alfen
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News
Dutch funds reconsider US equity exposure
While pension funds are yet to make big changes, decisions about strategic asset allocation are expected in the medium and long term
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Analysis
European pension funds review global weightings in face of US turmoil
As global markets react to the threat of US tariffs, many European pension funds are looking to rebalance their portfolios and reset their investment policies
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News
Dutch pension funds reduce investment-grade credit exposure in new DC system
Many funds will no longer add investment-grade corporate bonds to matching portfolios, preferring instead bonds with higher expected returns
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News
MN CEO eyes Bpf Bouw’s fiduciary mandate
€69bn Bpf Bouw, which is on the lookout for a new fiduciary manager, could be a great fit for MN, according to Martijn Scholten
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News
ABP to up infra investments in new pension system
In its investment strategy for the new DC pension system, the Dutch civil service scheme will increase the share of private market investments from 20% to 30%
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Special Report
Achmea IM and BlackRock emerge as winners in the Dutch fiduciary management market
Last autumn, Shell’s €26bn Dutch defined benefit (DB) pension fund announced it would swap Samco, the oil giant’s in-house asset manager, for BlackRock as its fiduciary manager.
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Analysis
2024: Achmea IM and BlackRock win Dutch fiduciary mandates
Last year, Achmea IM and BlackRock each won +€20bn fiduciary mandates from Dutch pension funds. This makes them the clear fiduciary winners of 2024.
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News
ABP orders fiduciary manager APG to shed all other clients
The move means APG’s three other fiduciary pension fund clients have to find alternatives
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News
Dutch pension funds increase short-term holdings
The increased liquidity reserves risk negatively impacting long-term returns, signals regulator DNB
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News
Impact-investing RFPs difficult to implement, says M&G
According to the asset manager, the definitions of impact given by pension funds in requests for proposal are often too broadly formulated to build portfolios
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News
PFZW sells €600m in gambling stocks
The Dutch healthcare scheme decided to divest from the sector following a member survey
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News
Dutch ‘early birds’ postpone DC transition
Only 10 pension funds are now still scheduled to make the transition to a new DC arrangement by 1 January 2025
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News
Dutch pension funds made 9.5% return on average in 2023
Smaller funds did comparatively better than large funds
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News
APG to cut asset management jobs as clients move to passive
Costs are a ‘recurring element’ in conversations with pension funds, says CEO Ronald Wuijster
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News
Dutch pension fund returns back in positive territory
But funding ratios mostly fell as four of the five funds indexed pensions
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News
Referendum on Dutch pension transition ‘logical’, says architects fund
This week, political party NSC is likely to propose a referendum about the transition of DB accruals to DC
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News
KPN pension fund to invest up to €700m in private debt
The €10bn pension fund considers the asset class a vehicle for impact investing
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News
Pensioenfonds Gasunie switches €1bn equity portfolio to State Street
The €2bn fund of the Dutch natural gas provider has switched its equity investments to a Climate Transition Benchmark
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News
Pensioenfonds DHL picks Aegon AM as fiduciary manager
The Dutch scheme of postal company DHL wants to concentrate all investment services in one mandate to reduce the board’s workload
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News
WTW to enter Dutch fiduciary market
The investment consultant had steered clear from offering fiduciary services to Dutch pension funds due to the low margins under its previous leadership