Pension funds in The Netherlands

The Dutch pension fund system, considered among the best in the world, successfully combines a first-pillar flat-rate pension for all residents with a labor-related second pillar and voluntary savings accounts as the third pillar. This paper describes the main institutional characteristics of the Dutch pension fund system and its evolution over the past few decades. The Dutch way is put in perspective by highlighting the differences between Dutch pension fund governance and that of the United Kingdom and United States, with an emphasis on the Dutch adherence to collective risk-sharing. Pension plan redesign, however, is inevitable because the increasing maturity of pension funds in a more volatile economy makes the defined benefit plan structure unsustainable. Pension fund will link benefits increasingly to financial market performance.