Several Dutch pension funds have seen increases in their funding ratios in the third quarter (Q3) of 2025, which they credited to a slight increase in interest rates and good investment results.

ABP experienced a 4.2 percentage point (pp) increase in its current funding ratio over the quarter, followed by PME (3.8pp), bpfBOUW (3.5pp) and PMT (3.4pp).

The funding ratio of public sector fund ABP rose from 117.5 per cent in Q2 to 121.7 per cent in Q3, which it attributed to a slight increase in interest rates.
ABP chairman of the board, Harmen van Wijnen, said: "Our investments in equities rose sharply and the alternative investments also performed well.”

The fund also reported that, mainly due to the good results on the stock markets, its assets grew to €532bn.

At the end of November, ABP’s board will decide whether and by how much pensions can increase in 2026, based on the fund’s finances and inflation. It also said its transition to the renewed pension scheme in 2027 is on track, with the governing board set to make a final decision on this in November.

Meanwhile, the pension fund for workers in the metal industry, PME, reported that its current funding ratio rose from 120.1 per cent to 123.9 per cent, which it also attributed to a slight increase in interest rates.

Over the first nine months of this year, the scheme’s funding ratio rose by almost 11pps.

In addition to the increase in the fund’s current funding ratio, its policy funding ratio, the average funding ratio over the past 12 months, rose from 114.6 per cent to 116.9 per cent.

According to the PME’s quarterly results, in Q3, invested assets rose by €1.1bn to €59.4bn, which it credited to the positive return on the return portfolio, which more than compensated for the negative return on its matching portfolio.

The fund’s increased interest rate, from 2.7 per cent to 2.9 per cent, also led to a further decrease in pension liabilities from €48.8bn to €48.2bn in Q3, which improved the financial position and brought PME to a higher current funding ratio.

Commenting, PME executive board chairman, Eric Uijen, said the pension fund is working on the transition to the new scheme. It submitted its implementation and communication plan to regulators De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) and Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) this summer.

He added that the fund is in “constructive discussions” with DNB about its implementation plan and is also working steadily on the back end of its administration.

Meanwhile, bpfBOUW, the scheme for the construction industry, saw its current funding ratio increase from 133.3 per cent in Q2 to 136.8 per cent in Q3, due to the good investment results in Q3. Its policy funding ratio also rose by 2pps to 129.4 per cent.

The fund said equity markets provided positive investment returns, and alternative investments, such as investments in unlisted companies, also achieved good results.

In addition, due to increased interest rates, the fund’s liabilities decreased, which also contributed to the increase in the funding ratio.

The fund said in its quarterly update that members will soon receive a preliminary calculation of their expected pension under the new pension system. Based on Q3 2025 figures, the fund said it is in a strong position for the transition.

Finally, the funding ratio of the pension fund for workers in the metal and engineering industries, PMT, rose from 114.8 per cent to 118.2 per cent, due to increased interest rates and a positive return on its investment portfolio.
Meanwhile, its policy funding ratio rose from 110.1 per cent to 112 per cent.

PMT chairman, Mieke van Veldhuizen, said: “The past quarter was dominated by preparations for the transition to the new pension system… In December, PMT will take a final decision on the transition to the new pension scheme.”

In Q2, the fund’s total assets increased from €86.3bn to €87.5bn while liabilities decreased from €75.1bn to €74bn.

These improvements in funding ratios follow the trend being seen in the Dutch pension market currently, following a period of negative returns on investments following US tariffs earlier this year.

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