News

The quarterly report for the second quarter of 2019 has been published. You can download the report via our website. In the second quarter, the current funding ratio fell from 115.6% at the end of March 2019 to 113.0% at the end of June 2019. The fall in the funding ratio was due to a fall in interest rates in the second quarter. Although this fall in interest rates yielded good returns on the fixed-income portfolio. But the positive effect of this on the funding ratio was drowned out by a larger increase in pension liabilities. On balance, the fall in interest rates therefore had a negative effect on the coverage ratio. The portfolio of real estate values also showed a positive return for the entire quarter, but this was not enough to compensate for the negative impact of the lower interest rate on the funding ratio.

Last month the policy funding ratio of Philips Pensioenfonds fell from 117.8% at the end of May to 117.3% at the end of June. The policy funding ratio has been below the required funding ratio (118.74%) since the end of March. The required funding ratio represents the minimum amount that Philips Pensioenfonds is required by law to have in reserve. As the policy funding ratio falls short of the required funding ratio, Philips Pensioenfonds has had a deficit since the end of March, and it submitted a recovery plan to the supervisory authority, which is the Dutch central bank. At a later moment, we will also publish that plan on our website. We expect that the funding ratio will recover based on our existing policies, and that no additional measures will be required.

Elections were held in the spring of 2019 for four new members for the Accountability Body. As a pension recipient, you were able to cast your vote for the representation of pension recipients in the Accountability Body. The elections were attended by the Federation of Philips Associations of Retired Persons (FPVG) and FNV Bondgenoten. The election results were determined on the basis of the casted votes: FPVG may enter 3 seats in the Accountability Council and FNV 1 seat.

This month you will receive your Uniform Pension Overview 2019 from Philips Pensioenfonds. That overview shows how much pension you have accrued, and what you can expect when you retire.

In the past month, the current funding ratio has fallen from 116.8% (end of April) to 113.2% (end of May). This is mainly due to the fall in interest rates. This increased the value of the portfolio with fixed-income securities. However, due to falling interest rates, the pension liabilities rose even more strongly and had a negative effect on the current funding ratio. The decrease in the value of the investments in shares also contributed to the decrease in the current funding ratio.

Read how developments during 2018 impacted us. The actual funding ratio remained stable at around 121% throughout most of 2018. This lasted until the end of Q3. As widespread concerns about the economy sent share prices plummeting, and with interest rates also falling slightly, by the end of the reporting year the actual funding ratio had fallen to 114.5%. The pension fund ended 2018 with a policy funding ratio of 119.8%. The annual report explains how the various developments impacted Philips Pensioenfonds during 2018. It also provides a brief discussion of what to expect in 2019. Find out more in the 2018 annual report. In chapter 8 you find an English Summary of the report.

‘This website makes you want to stick around a bit longer.’ When Philips Pensioenfonds decided to update its website, we knew that it should be developed not only with the pension fund members in mind, but also with their input. This quote was one of the reactions from a panel gathered to discuss the new website. Our website www.philipspensioenfonds.nl was due for an update, and not only the technical side. It also needed to become more of a service channel, to allow our members to find the information that they need, including their personal information, and to arrange their pension matters there and then if they want. Read on to find out what to expect when you visit our website. More importantly, though, why not go there now and see for yourself?