Pensioenfonds PostNL and PNO Media have published funding updates for September, with both funds experiencing decreases.

Pensioenfonds PostNL said its funding ratio for September 2023 was 133.7 per cent, a fall of 0.2 of a percentage point from August 2024 when the funding ratio was 133.9 per cent. Furthermore, its policy funding ratio, the average of the funding ratio over 12 months, fell to 132.4 per cent, down slightly from 132.6 per cent.

The pension fund said interest rates fell slightly over September, which had a negative impact on the current funding ratio. However, the value of investments increased in September leading to a positive effect on the funding ratio. In this case, the fall in interest rates had a slightly larger effect than the increase in investments leading to a fall in the current funding ratio in September 2024.

Posting its September figures, PNO Media said its funding ratio was 118.7 per cent at the end of the month, down from 119.1 per cent. It had a policy funding ratio of 118.2 per cent.

Over the month, the pension fund’s return on investments was 1.8 per cent, which had a 2.1 percentage point increase on the funding ratio. However, the decrease in the calculation interest rate caused the current coverage ratio to decrease by 2.2 percentage points in September.

PNO Media plans to switch to the rules of the new pension system on 1 January 2027. To bridge the transition period to the new pension system, it is using temporary rules for increasing and decreasing pensions.

Its bridging plan states it will increase pensions if the current coverage ratio after indexation is higher than 110 per cent. The board will decide in the fourth quarter of 2024 whether pensions can be increased as of 1 January 2025.

Conversely, pensions must be reduced if calculations show that PNO Media will not achieve a coverage ratio of 95 per cent on 1 January 2027.

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