Asking all the right questions

“Strong emphasis on trying to understand members, on developing tools and interfaces helping them to make better financial choices,” judge’s comment

WINNER

Country

Netherlands

Type

Defined benefit

Members

8,965 active
7,762 retired
1,900 deferred

AUM

€11,600m

Performance

8.70% (1yr)

Stichting Pensioenfonds Medisch Specialisten (SPMS) is the occupational pension fund for medical specialists in The Netherlands. Its asset allocation at 31 December 2023 comprised 47% fixed income, 25% equities, 9% real estate and 7% alternatives, amomg others.

The new Dutch Future Pensions Act has caused an enormous upheaval for pension funds. Those which change their structure must submit a communication plan to the Dutch financial regulator that includes strategies for knowing their target groups and measuring the effectiveness of communication campaigns. SPMS sees this requirement as an opportunity to develop better customer journeys for pension fund participants.

SPMS has a strong desire to get to know its participants better and fine-tune its communications, while encouraging them to actively participate more. In relation to the new pension system, SPMS thus sought to establish what its participants think about their own involvement and what they want in terms of communication.

SPMS chose a qualitative approach. Together with a software company focusing on user research within the pension and asset market, SPMS entered into dialogue with its participants using a semi-structured questionnaire followed by in-depth interviews focusing on the participant’s personal and financial situation. The strength of an in-depth interview in revealing the “why” behind an answer, and therefore participants’ desires and financial needs.

The process identified two personas, differentiated by attitude more than by demographic profile; each wants to be stimulated and informed in different ways. This provided an opportunity to choose the right message and channel for each group or participant, optimising communication both digitally and offline, such as with the use of Quickscan, a tool allowing participants to access holistic financial insight.

STRATEGIC TAKEAWAYS

➤ New legal requirement for revamped pension funds to submit a communication plan to the regulator

➤ Qualitative survey of participants using in-depth interviews

➤ Attitude of participant more important than demographic profile when targeting messages

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Country 

Netherlands

AUM

€537m

Performance

8.70% (1yr)

The Dutch Roman Catholic clergy and staff pension fund, Pensioenfonds Nederlandse Bisdommen invests sustainably in accordance with Papal encyclicals – doctrine of the Catholic Chruch directly from the Pope . It has combined this with shrewd investment management, resulting in excellent performance, a 153% coverage ratio and premium discounts given to member dioceses.

Country 

Netherlands

AUM

€23,836m

Performance

7.5% (1yr)
4% (5yr)

Last year, Pensioenfonds Rail & Openbaar Vervoer was the first Dutch fund to conduct a study on the impact of its investments on biodiversity, a niche that it believes will be as important as climate in its investment policy within five years. It will then engage with companies specifically on this, excluding them if necessary.

Country 

Netherlands

AUM

€82,685m

Performance

8.4% (1yr)
1.3% (5yr)
4.3% (10yr)

PMT, the pension fund for the Dutch metal and technology sectors -- achieved in 2023 a 65.7% reduction in CO2 emissions from its portfolio, compared with 2019. This was mainly because of the exclusion of energy companies. PMT has also expanded its engagement programme through dialogue with the energy system represented in its portfolio.

Judged by

Haitse Hoos
Raúl Mateos
Josef Pilger
Thomas Post

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