Interview board chairman Martin ten Brink and board member Edwin Kunkels

double interview

The transition shift to the new pension scheme is approaching and remains a major focus for SSPF in 2024. SSPF chairman Martin ten Brink and board member Edwin Kunkels reflect on a challenging but productive year.

“To be honest, 2024 was all about the Future Pensions Act (Wtp),” Martin says. “It’s keeping us very busy. There’s a lot that needs to be done for the new scheme to take effect by 1 January 2027. We’re running a wide range of projects to make that happen.”

The transition plan was completed in the summer of 2024
Shell Netherlands and the Central Works Council (COR) published the SSPF transition plan in early July. This plan outlines the choices, considerations and calculations that form the foundation of the new scheme and ensure compliance with the Wtp. Martin: “Before we reached that point, the board had extensive consultations with Shell Netherlands and the COR. At the same time, the Voeks (Association of former Shell employees) Hearing Rights Committee shared its perspective with Shell Netherlands and the COR. It was then up to the board to assess the transition plan against the legally required criteria: feasibility, balance and transparency.” Edwin: “In 2024, we already conducted an internal review of the plan. We’re now in the middle of the formal evaluation. We expect to present our final decision by mid-2025. If the outcome is positive, the board will formally accept the assignment from Shell Netherlands, as outlined in the transition plan. That assignment will be detailed in an implementation plan, which must be submitted to De Nederlandsche Bank (Dutch Central Bank, DNB) for approval. The implementation plan will also be published on our website so that everyone can access it. We will, of course, inform all stakeholders at that time.”

Data quality under control
Data quality is a critical issue for many pension funds. After all, the data must be accurate to ensure the fair and correct distribution of assets among participants. Martin: “And it must be right the first time. Fortunately, we’ve put a lot of effort into improving data quality and cleansing over the years. In 2024, we also brought in an external firm for additional analysis. Their findings confirmed that our data quality is strong. That gives us confidence. The key now is to maintain that level of quality, so we can smoothly shift to the new scheme in 2027.”

Edwin Kunkels 

CARE: guiding participants step by step towards the new pension scheme
In 2024, we worked hard on our CARE programme: Comfort and Retirement Ease. Martin: “This programme guides participants step by step towards their new pension. By explaining the choices they can make for their pension and offering support in navigating those decisions. We provide guidance via emails, webinars, in-person meetings and in one-on-one sessions with a financial advisor if preferred.”

2024 was a positive investment year
“In 2024, SSPF achieved robust investment results. SSPF’s investment portfolio is structured to maintain a stable funding ratio and aims to deliver inflation-proof pensions for its participants. The fund has successfully achieved this goal, especially when looking at historical results, such as those from the past decade. Inflation in 2024 was around 3%, fairly aligned with the return achieved in 2024.” The Return-Seeking Assets portfolio, aimed at generating returns, achieved a return of almost 8%. Edwin: “Because we have a strong funding ratio and a large proportion of our participants are already retired, our investment portfolio is structured to avoid unnecessary risks. After all, there is less time to recover from potential setbacks. Therefore, we have a highly diversified portfolio, with currency risks largely hedged and interest-rate risks almost fully hedged (100% of liabilities). Within the Return-Seeking Assets category, SSPF invests in equities (which performed very strongly in 2024), as well as in emerging market debt, high-yield bonds, private equity, real estate, and hedge funds (virtually all of which also delivered positive returns). However, no other category achieved returns as high as equities. Consequently, the overall return for Return-Seeking Assets in 2024 was lower than that of a portfolio invested solely in equities. In other years, such as 2022, the opposite occurred, and these other investments helped boost the average returns. SSPF’s portfolio is designed to diversify risks effectively and achieve stable returns with a relatively steady funding ratio, even during challenging market conditions—this serves the best interests of our participants.”

A new asset manager: BlackRock
With the Future Pensions Act (Wtp) on the horizon, the way pension assets are managed will change significantly. The board took the opportunity to reassess which asset manager is best positioned to support SSPF going forward. Edwin: “SAMCo has served us very well, but the pension landscape is evolving. We needed to look at which partner could best support us under the new system. 2024 was the right time, as we started developing the investment policy for the new scheme.” Martin: “It was a thorough and intensive selection process.” Edwin: “Ultimately, we chose BlackRock—one of the largest global asset managers, known for its expertise and professionalism. Plus, they have a local office in Amsterdam.”

Martin ten Brink 

Communication efforts well received
While preparing for the implementation of the new pension scheme has dominated the agenda in 2024, there were other notable achievements as well. Martin: “We won three major awards. The Pensioen Pro Communication Award for our communication approach, and the PensioenWegwijzer Audience Award for innovative communication through our Own it platform. We were also named ‘Pension Fund of the Year 2024’ at the Pensioen Pro Awards.” Edwin: “We received that last award for how we communicate with our participants. We’re proud of that recognition — clear communication is especially important in times of change.”

Clear focus on decision-making boundaries
What exactly does the SSPF board have authority over—and what not? That was another key focus in 2024. Edwin: “For example, the decision to convert accrued pensions to the new scheme (‘invaren’) is a decision that is effectively part of Shell’s Employment Terms, as this decision was made by Shell Netherlands and the COR. The board’s role is to assess whether this decision, as captured in the transition plan, is balanced and feasible. That includes ensuring the transition is fair for all participants and that the pension assets are distributed correctly. In addition, after the transition, the employer will no longer provide a guarantee to prevent nominal pension reductions. That kind of guarantee won’t exist under the new scheme, so participants must be compensated in another way.” Martin: “We’ve had many open discussions on this within the board in 2024. We reviewed every process carefully and defined upfront criteria to help us evaluate feasibility and fairness.”