Building Supplies Scheme Seeking New Provider

The €333m Dutch Pensioenfonds Rockwool is considering its options for switching to new provider, after the employer and the unions indicated that they wanted to make a change this year.

In a newsletter, the scheme – which serves current and former employees of building supplies company Rockwool – said the social partners’ involvement had accelerated its exploration of options, a process that had already started at the request of regulator De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB).

The scheme’s supervisory board andt accountability body had also both urged the main board to come up with a vision for its future.

The pension fund and the social partners are considering transferring future accrual to a new provider, and moving existing pension rights and legacy benefits to another party.

In both scenarios, the sponsor would terminate its contract with the pension fund.

The Pensioenfonds Rockwool said it was exploring the possibilities of joining another pension fund for future accrual and placing its other pension rights with an insurer or a general pension fund (APF).

It added that it was also considering the option of moving its pensions to a provider in Belgium.

However, the Rockwool scheme said its choices would be limited because of its low funding position of 100.4% at November-end.

The social partners and the pension fund said they wanted to involve members in their search for a solution through a survey.

The Pensioenfonds Rockwool has almost 1,200 active participants and reported administration costs of €366 per participant for 2017.

During 2017, asset management costs rose from 33 to 69 basis points, which the scheme in part attributed to a switch from NN IP to Northern Trust, changing its actively managed equity mandate into a passively managed one. NN IP, however, stayed on as fiduciary manager for the pension fund.

The Rockwool scheme has a 30% allocation to equity, with the remainder of its portfolio invested in fixed income.