Several Dutch pension funds saw further improvements in their funding positions in September 2025, driven mainly by higher investment returns and changes in actuarial interest rates.

Hoogovens Pension Fund's results revealed that its current coverage ratio increased from 130.7 per cent in August to 131.6 per cent in September.

This is a notable increase from the beginning of the year, when the current coverage ratio was 122.2 per cent.

The fund stated that in 2025, the actuarial interest rate had a positive effect of 10.7 percentage points on the current coverage ratio.

While this was reduced slightly by a fall in the value of the invested capital, from €10,411m to €10,403m, investment returns still contributed 2.3 percentage points to the increase in the current funding ratio.

Additionally, the pension increase granted on 1 July 2025 had a negative effect of 3.8 percentage points on the current funding ratio.

The scheme's policy coverage ratio also improved, rising from 125.4 per cent in August to 126.1 per cent in September.

However, it remains 18.6 percentage points below the threshold for future sustainable indexation.

PostNL Pension Fund reported a similar trend, noting that its policy funding ratio had risen slightly in September 2025, now standing at 132.7 per cent.

This increase reflects the higher current funding ratio for September 2025, which reached 137.3 per cent, up from 133.7 per cent in September 2024.

The fund explained that falling interest rates in the past month had a negative impact on the current funding ratio, while the increase in the value of investments had a positive effect.

Overall, the positive effect from investments outweighed the negative impact of lower interest rates, resulting in a higher current funding ratio this month.

Continuing the trend, SNS Reaal reported improvements in its funding levels, with its policy rising from 122.1 per cent in August to 123 per cent in September.

The value of the fund’s investments increased in September, and due to a slight decrease in interest rates, liabilities increased, leading to a rise in the current funding ratio from 130.2 per cent to 131.8 per cent.

The fund stated that the required policy funding ratio for full indexation is 137.8 per cent as of October 2024, noting that this level depends on market factors such as interest rates and inflation and may change over time.

Pensioenfonds UWV also recorded a positive month for its funding levels, with its policy funding ratio rising from 119.4 per cent in August to 119.8 per cent in September.

Its current funding ratio also rose this month, increasing from 123.8 per cent to 124.5 per cent.

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