| Date | 1 September 2008 |
|---|
In the period April 2007 to March 2008, Dutch pension funds received EUR 4.9 billion in dividends on quoted shares. Pension fund holdings of quoted shares stood at EUR 195 billion on average in that period, excluding quoted shares held through mutual funds. Dividend income is used either as a major funding source for pension benefits or for reinvesting.
As holdings of these investments are widely spread, dividends on quoted shares are of quite diverse origin. Geographically, more than half of the dividends come from European companies, most of which have their registered offices in the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands or Germany. Furthermore, one quarter of the total dividend was paid out by US and Canadian companies.