(May 22, 2014) — The chairman of the largest Dutch pension fund has announced he is to step down at the end of the month for personal reasons.
Henk Brouwer was appointed to lead the trustee board of ABP, the pension fund for Dutch civil servants, in January 2012. He had been a director of the Dutch National Bank, which also regulates the pension industry, since 1997.
The news comes a day after the €309 billion pension announced 2013 had been “an eventful year” in its annual report. A year ago, 2012 was termed “difficult”.
In a statement to accompany the report, Brouwer said the fund had dealt with many challenges: “New rules, a new contract, and a discussion on the future of the system.”
However, ABP’s coverage ratio increased in 2013 by more than nine percentage points, from 96.6% to 105.9%, the report revealed. Assets increased by €20 billion and liabilities decreased by €8 billion. Investments in developed markets were up 22.1% and private equity investments gained 17.5%. The fund’s assets are managed by dedicated asset manager APG.
The report also mentioned that the fund was pleased not only with the quantitative outcomes of its investment strategy, but also that it had been able to engage with major companies to improve governance quality.
Brouwer signed off his introductory letter to the annual report by saying that those running the fund would continue to do so with “lots of energy”.
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