Pension transition and pension fund funding ratios – 2026Q2
The transition to the new pension in the Netherlands system is ongoing, with a growing number of pension funds having now made the conversion. In the second quarter of 2026, Dutch pension funds that had not yet converted saw their funding ratios improve relative to the previous quarter.
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Pension transition
Dutch pension funds have until 1 January 2028 to transfer accrued pension entitlements. As at the reference date of 30 June 2026, a total of 34 pension funds had converted to the new pension system, up from 30 at the end of the previous quarter. As at that date, the total assets under management of all Dutch pension funds amounted to €1,720 billion. Of this amount, €1,131 billion was held by funds that have not yet converted to the new system and are subject to the Financial Supervision Framework (FTK), while €589 billion was held by funds that had converted under the Future of Pensions Act (Wtp).
The funding ratio of FTK funds has improved
The average funding ratio of the FTK funds rose to 131.4% in the second quarter of 2026. That is 6.6 percentage points higher than in the previous quarter (Figure 1). There was a dip in the funding ratio in the first quarter of 2026 as a result of the conflict in the Middle East.
The funding ratio recovered in the second quarter, partly due to rising share prices. The funding ratio reflects an FTK fund’s current financial position, expressing the ratio between a pension fund’s investments and liabilities.
The policy funding ratio also improved by 2.7 percentage points to 127.7% (previous quarter: 125.0%). The policy funding ratio is the average of the funding ratios for the past twelve months.
Wtp funds
Under the FTK, the funding ratio reflects the financial position of the fund as a whole, with both investment performance and changes in liabilities having an impact. Under the Wtp, pensions schemes are based on personal assets from which expected pension benefits are derived. Consequently, the financial position of a Wtp fund cannot be summarised unequivocally by a single indicator such as the funding ratio. As more experience is gained from funds that have converted to a Wtp scheme and more data becomes available, a clearer picture will emerge of which indicators are the most informative and representative.
More information
The calculation of the funding ratio and the policy funding ratio in this news item relates solely to pension funds that have not yet converted to the new system.
We used the following statistics to compile this news item: