Dutch pension administrator AZL has revealed that more than 800,000 participants are now enrolled in schemes operating under the Netherlands' new pension system, following a series of successful transitions to the Future Pensions Act (Wtp).

In its 2025 annual report, AZL said it reached a key milestone in the country's pension reform programme after successfully migrating and transferring the Public Library Pension Fund Foundation (POB), becoming one of the first administrators to guide a pension fund through the transition to the Wtp.

Since then, AZL has also completed the transition of the Industry Pension Fund for the Food Industry (BPFL), Flexsecurity Pension Fund (Flexsecurity), and the Fashion, Interior, Carpet and Textile Industry Pension Fund (Bpf MITT).

As a result, almost 60 per cent of AZL's client portfolio is now operating under the new pension framework.

Commenting on the achievement, AZL chief executive officer, Sebastiaan van den Dries, said 2025 marked the point at which preparations for the new system moved into practical implementation.

"2025 is the year in which we showed that it works," he stated.

"With the successful transition of POB in 2025 and BPFL, Flexsecurity and Bpf MITT this year, we have proven that pension transitions can be executed in a controlled and careful manner. We are now using that experience to scale up and guide other funds in a controlled manner as well."

AZL said the transitions were completed while maintaining existing pension administration services, with regular service provision remaining stable throughout the implementation period.

The administrator also outlined plans to migrate additional pension funds over the coming years, while increasing automation and digitalisation across its operations.

It revealed these efforts would be supported by continued investment in a modern IT infrastructure as part of its ambition to become the leading digital pension administrator in the Netherlands.

Alongside the transition activity, AZL secured two new clients during 2025.

Rabobank Pensioenfonds and Ahold Delhaize Pensioen selected AZL as their future administration partner, with administration services due to transfer on 1 January 2027 and 1 January 2028 respectively.

AZL claimed that the appointments reflected growing confidence in both its implementation capabilities and its Wtp proposition.

The annual report also showed a pre-tax loss of €3.2m for 2025, which AZL noted was in line with expectations and reflected a multi-year investment programme focused on enhancing its IT systems and preparing for the Wtp transition programme.

As part of this investment phase, shareholder NN Group provided a capital contribution of €4m during 2025, followed by a further €10m contribution in 2026 to support AZL's financial position and ongoing development plans.

Looking ahead, AZL said its focus would remain on the continued implementation of the Wtp, with scalability, operational control and customer focus remaining central to its strategy.

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