Stichting Beroepspensioenfonds Loodsen, the Dutch pension fund for pilots, has confirmed it has transitioned to the new Dutch pension system, after becoming the first scheme to receive approval to transition from De Nederlandsche Bank.

The scheme received approval to transition in November 2024 but its plans to transition faced a setback last month when a member raised a legal challenge to its transition plans.

Members were told of the transition one month ahead of the date. However, the member in question felt that one month was too short to complete calculations for the new scheme.

Although the court ruled that the time was short, it noted that the pension statement showed that the member's pension would increase by 8 per cent. Therefore, it concluded that no time was needed to adjust expenses for a reduced pension.

Pensioenfonds Loodsen confirmed that the Pension Statute 2025 was adopted at a members’ meeting held on 12 December 2024. It confirmed earlier this week that the go ahead has been given to implement the statute from 1 January 2025.

The fund said it has “worked intensively” with Blue Sky Group, BlackRock and Northern Trust in recent weeks to demonstrate operational readiness. Based on the test reports obtained, checks carried out and statements from the various parties, the board decided to give a 'go' to the implementation of the transition.

“The board made the decision last month that the outsourcing parties have sufficiently demonstrated their readiness to carry out the transition with integrity and in a controlled manner,” the pension fund stated.

Pensioenfonds Loodsen chair, Marco Louwerens, said on the eve of the transition: “Now, on the eve of this in all respects historical transition and looking back on all the work done by everyone involved, I can only conclude that a solid and robust system has been put in place, ready for the future. I am extremely proud of my team who managed to pull off this monster job.”

However, he said the work will not stop after the transition and the coming year will be marked by “careful implementation and fine-tuning, before we can get back to our everyday work”.

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