APG will focus exclusively on investing money for Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP, Heerlen — the largest pension fund in the Netherlands — starting in about 2030, shifting away from running assets for other pension fund clients, the manager confirmed in emailed comments to Pensions & Investments.
ABP is the pension fund for government and education employees in the Netherlands and had €552 billion ($583.3 billion) as of Nov. 30. The pension fund owns 92% of APG.
"If APG, as an asset manager, also serves other clients, it adds extra complexity, which does not necessarily yield extra returns," said ABP CEO Harmen van Wijnen in the emailed comment to Pensions & Investments.
The decision means APG will end the investment management of its seven other pension fund clients, for which it manages about €75 billion. While these clients will need to find new investment managers, APG will continue to provide administration services to the funds.
However, APG will also set up teams that focus exclusively on serving ABP participants and employers.
The move by APG follows from ABP's "Future vision of the ABP pension fund" report, which outlined the fund's direction of policiy for the coming years and was adopted at the end of 2024. In the document, the pension fund expressed a desire for maximum investment returns at “acceptable risk” for its more than 3 million participants and a need to keep costs as low as possible.
Van Wijnen and APG CEO Annette Mosman also emphasized in the email that the changes will only take effect after all eight APG customers have transitioned to the new pension system. The Netherlands is due to radically reform its retirement system through the Dutch Future Pensions Act, moving to a defined contribution from a defined benefit model by 2028.
APG has transferred its first two clients, Stichting Personeelspensioenfonds Algemene Pensioen Groep, Amsterdam, and Stichting Pensioenfonds Werk en (re)Integratie, Heerlen, comprising around 200,000 participants in total, to the new system. APG will now work to transfer its other six clients, with approximately 4.5 million pension plan participants, to the new system.
ABP has been contacted for comment.