As 2024 draws to a close, European Pensions takes a look back at some of the most-read stories from the year

Five largest Dutch pension funds call for creation of national investment institution

The noise surrounding public-private partnerships (PPPs) has seen an increase in 2024 and proved to a be a popular read. Indeed, our most-read story of 2024 covered the news that the five largest Dutch pension funds have called for the creation of a national investment institution to facilitate PPPs in a letter sent to the Dutch government.

ABP, PMT, bpfBouw, PME, and PFZW emphasised that by collaborating with the government they can “achieve long-term stable returns and make an important contribution to the necessary energy transition”.

“Increasingly, pension funds are engaging with various government departments on how our sector can contribute. We appreciate the government's active involvement to really get PPPs off the ground, but it is often still fragmented and has little central coordination and scale,” the letter said.

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Belgian govt approves pension reform measures

Our second most-read story of the year was on Belgian pension reforms, which saw the Belgian government approve pension reforms on 4 April. This included several measures, such as introducing a new pension bonus for those who work past their earliest retirement age.

Summarising the changes, the Service Federal des Pensions (Federal Pension Service) said the pension bonus applies to employees, the self-employed and civil servants who continue working beyond retirement age. The new bonus will come into effect from 1 July 2024, and a pension can start on 1 January 2025, at the earliest, to be entitled to the bonus. Anyone already retired is not entitled to the new bonus, but those who receive the old bonus will continue to receive it.

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Ireland’s AE Bill passed by Dáil with Tata Consultancy Services selected as administrator

An ongoing story all year is that of Ireland’s automatic enrolment (AE) plans. The story that really caught the attention of readers was news of the AE Bill’s passing by the Dáil with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) simultaneously selected as administrator to the scheme.

Since this announcement, the launch date for AE in Ireland has been pushed back further to 30 September 2025. However, TCS has since signed a 15-year contract with the Department of Social Protection, solidifying its tender.

The long-awaited bill paves the way for the creation of an automatic enrolment pension system in Ireland, with 800,000 workers set to be enrolled into the scheme. It aims to increase pension coverage and overall pension adequacy in Ireland. Ireland is the only OECD country that does not yet operate an auto-enrolment or similar system as a means of promoting pension savings.

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Norfolk Pension Fund secures £380m in class action against Apple

News of the UK's Norfolk Pension Fund securing a £380m (USD 490m) recovery in a class action case against technology giant Apple was another popular read.

Following a five-year battle, investors led by Norfolk County Council as administering authority of the Norfolk Pension Fund, won the case that alleged Apple CEO, Tim Cook, made false and misleading statements to investors.

During the five-year case, Apple contested the accusations at every stage and executives admitted no wrongdoing as part of the settlement. The win has been described as “a historic result for a UK fund leading shareholder litigation in the United States”, by Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP partner, Mark Solomon, who leads the firm’s international practice.


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EIOPA proposes PEPP reforms; calls for auto-enrolment

Finally, a Europe-wide story on the pan-European personal pension (PEPP) product was a hit with readers. In September, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published a paper on the future of the PEPP, outlining the reasons behind its limited uptake and proposed reforms.

Its staff paper set out the authority’s suggested improvements to the PEPP’s design, with the aim of overcoming supply-side, demand-side and structural barriers hindering its broader adoption.

As part of its demand-side fixes, EIOPA proposed the introduction of auto-enrolment for a personal pension scheme, like the PEPP, at the EU level.

“Automatically opening a scheme for every EU citizen reaching the age of 18 or entering the workforce would be an innovative step,” EIOPA stated.

“Such schemes should allow both regular and intermittent contributions to reflect diverse career paths.”

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