Age is the main factor for determining pension risk tolerance among PGB members, as younger participants are more willing to take risks with their pension savings, the Dutch pension fund found.

On a scale of one to 10, younger members scored an average of 6.8 in risk tolerance, while older participants scored 3.3.

The survey, which included current, past, and retired participants of PGB pension, aimed to investigate if its current investments reflected members' situations and wishes.

While the research found that age was the main factor in risk tolerance, the research also looked at other factors, such as income, gender, marital status, or the industry the participant works in, and found that these factors were less influential on risk preference.

The results revealed that men were willing to take slightly more risks than women as men scored 4.7, while women scored 4.1.

PGB also asked participants about their minimum pension needs and compared it to the expected pension, which found that, on average, the final net pension was higher than the pension participants thought they needed.

In addition to this, the majority (66 per cent) of participants were okay with their future monthly pension fluctuating with the economy and the returns on investments, while 12 per cent said they did not want this, and 22 per cent said they did not know.

Meanwhile, among pensioners, 19 per cent preferred a stable pension that did not fluctuate, 62 per cent were open to some fluctuations and 19 per cent were unsure.

PGB also asked how much risk a participant was able to bear and found that 18 per cent were unable to absorb a 10 per cent drop in their pension value. The older the participant, the higher this percentage was.

Indeed, 29 per cent of pensioners said they could not absorb such a shock, while 5 per cent of people under 30 felt the same.

PGB said it will use these results to align its investments with the wishes and preferences of its participants. For example, it explained it will take slightly more risk in its investment portfolio for young people and slightly less for older people, to achieve the highest possible expected pension.

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