Pension funds in transition: earlier deadline for bridging plans

Pension funds in the transition phase for the new pension law that wish to make use of the temporarily eased indexation rules (also referred to as the Indexation Decree) must submit a bridging plan to De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) each year. As part of the transition towards the new system – with the transfer scheduled for no later than 1 January 2028 – the submission deadline has now been brought forward to 1 April, both in 2026 and 2027.

It is therefore important to finalise the plan as soon as possible and put it on the board’s agenda for approval. In addition, the accountability body has the right to provide advice on the plan, while the stakeholder body even holds approval rights. Participants will also expect to receive the plan in a timely manner. In short, timeliness and speed are essential,  1 April will arrive sooner than expected.

The bridging plan must contain at least eight mandatory components. These include substantiations of the interests of different categories of participants, the transfer funding ratio and the premium funding ratio, and compliance with the (minimum) required solvency capital. In addition, the plan must explain how intergenerational effects have been taken into account during the transition and include a forward-looking projection of technical provisions. The fund must also describe the specific measures that will be taken to achieve the transfer funding ratio, taking into account a wide range of developments. Finally, funds that aim to carry out a collective value transfer must substantiate this expectation.

In short: no small task!

Arcturus would be pleased to support you with these challenges: the deadline is achievable. Our pension experts can quickly assist with the required substantiations and calculations. Everything from additional short-term capacity to maintaining actuarial oversight of the transition process can be discussed. For more information, please contact Constance van Noort.

Further details can be found at: Factsheet Overbruggingsplan Pensioenfondsen (in Dutch). The downloads are available here.