The Dutch pension administrator AZL has transferred the Industry-wide Pension Fund for the Fashion, Interior, Carpet and Textile Industries (Bpf MITT) to the country’s new pension system, effective 1 April 2026.

Bpf MITT has switched to a solidarity-based contribution scheme and provides pensions for more than 129,000 participants.

Commenting on the news, Bpf MITT chairman of the board on behalf of employers, Gaby Lamers, said: "I am proud of what we have achieved together in the run-up to the implementation of the Wtp: the collaboration internally, externally with AZL, our outsourcing partners and advisers. So, we’re certainly celebrating.

“We’re also looking forward with confidence to the next phase, in which we’ll continue to optimise our processes and keep participants fully informed.”

This milestone marks the fourth AZL customer to complete the transition: POB, BPFL, Flexsecurity, and Bpf MITT.

It means AZL now has over 800,000 participants as part of the Future Pensions Act (Wtp), representing almost 60 per cent of its portfolio.

AZL said that the successful transition is the result of close collaboration and that the partnership has enabled the transition to be carried out in a "controlled and managed manner".

As with its previous transitions, the administrator explained that its information technology landscape, including the pension administration system from Festina Finance, formed an important foundation for this launch.

AZL CEO, Sebastiaan van den Dries, said: “With a Wtp offering that has now been proven in practice on multiple occasions, AZL demonstrates the power of a standardised transition approach, centred on leadership, control and diligence.

“AZL has a future-proof infrastructure and a mature Wtp offering that puts the participant first. I am also proud of all our colleagues who have worked on this and would like to thank Bpf MITT and our business partners for the collaboration that has led to this milestone.”

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