Investing

We are changing the way we invest.

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Investment risk survey

In April, we conducted a survey among employees who participate in the pension scheme, looking at the level of risk they wish to take with their pension capital on average and what they are expecting in terms of pension income. It is a legal requirement to conduct this type of survey on a regular basis. The investment form we use as standard for investing must also be consistent with the results of the survey. We invest using the standard investment form, unless your employee makes a different choice.

The survey showed that participants on average wished to invest with slightly higher risk, with the aim of achieving a higher ‘expected pension’. Higher risk also means that the chance of a lower pension increases. These changes will be implemented during the transition to the administration system of Zwitserleven PPI.

Read more about the results of the survey

Investment forms

The investment forms are changing names and we are changing certain components.

Smart Standard investment form will become DynamischBeleggen investment form.

The Smart Standard is our standard investment method. Once the transition to the administration of Zwitserleven PPI occurs, this will become the DynamischBeleggen investment form. We will continue to invest in this on the basis of a lifecycle that depends on your employee's salary. DynamischBeleggen delivers a higher ‘expected pension’ than the Smart Standard, but it has a higher level of risk. And it thus reflects the results of the investment risk survey. From now on, we will invest entirely in Zwitserleven funds.

Smart Investing will become ProfielBeleggen.

An employee may choose to switch to Smart Investing, which will become the ProfielBeleggen investment form. Just as with Smart Investing, your employee will create a personal investor profile. This indicates how much risk they are able and willing to take. They will then choose to invest in one of the corresponding lifecycles managed by Zwitserleven. From now on, we will invest entirely in Zwitserleven funds.

Self Investing will become VrijBeleggen.

If your pension scheme offers Self Investing and an employee has opted for this, this employee will be personally responsible for the investments and will have to make independent decisions. Self Investing will be replaced by VrijBeleggen. In this investment form, the employee also takes full responsibility for their investments. We will offer other funds in VrijBeleggen.

The Pension Stabiliser will lapse.

If your pension scheme offers the Pension Stabiliser, this investment form will lapse. Employees with 15 years or less before their statutory retirement date (AOW) will soon be able to opt for PensioenZekerheid. With PensioenZekerheid, they can use all or part of their capital to purchase a guaranteed old-age pension and partner's pension from Zwitserleven.

Choosing a new investment form

Next week, we will inform all employees who participate in the pension scheme about the changes in the investment forms. If you have employees who are currently investing in Smart Investing, Self Investing or the Pension Stabiliser, then they will receive additional information and we will ask them to choose a investment form again. We are making an online tool available (in Dutch and in English) to guide employees in choosing a new investment form. This is done via a questionnaire and supporting information. We call this a ‘transition preference survey’. This research has been organized in collaboration with an independent consulting firm.

Employees can opt for:

DynamischBeleggen

This is our standard investment form.

ProfielBeleggen

If an employee chooses ProfielBeleggen, we will ask your employee to determine the investor profile. This indicates how much risk they can and want to take. Your employee then chooses to invest in one of the corresponding lifecycles managed by Zwitserleven.

VrijBeleggen, if your pension scheme currently offers Self Investing

If an employee chooses VrijBeleggen, we will also ask for an investor profile, but the employee will be responsible for the investments themselves. We therefore ask in which funds that Zwitserleven offers the employee would like to invest.

Employees have until the end of August 2024 to submit their choice, and this choice will then apply from the transition. Does an employee end up not making a choice? Then the investment form will change to DynamischBeleggen. This may not or may not be a good fit for the risk an employee wants and is able to take.

New investment form - DynamischBeleggen

With DynamischBeleggen, we invest on the basis of a lifecycle. A lifecycle is a certain mix of investments. In this mix, we adjust the investments to your employee’s age. We also make sure that the investment risk of the mix is gradually reduced as an employee approaches their retirement date. So we adjust the mix of funds so that the investment risk declines. The composition and risk reduction of the investments will vary depending on the lifecycle.

Investment form ProfielBeleggen

With ProfielBeleggen, Zwitserleven will invest for your employee. Your employee will decide how we do this by creating a personal investor profile. This will indicates what type of investor they are and how much risk they wish to take. Your employee then chooses to invest in one of the corresponding lifecycles managed by Zwitserleven.

A lifecycle is a certain mix of investments. In this mix, we adjust the investments to your employee’s age. We also make sure that the investment risk of the mix is gradually reduced as they approach their retirement date. So we adjust the mix of funds so that the investment risk declines. The composition and risk reduction of the investments will vary depending on the investor profile.

Investment Form VrijBeleggen

With the Vrijbeleggen investment form, your employee determines the mix of the investments and how much risk they wish to take. Your employee will first complete a questionnaire to provide us with information about their knowledge and experience of investing. They will also indicate how much risk they are willing and able to take. We determine the risks and investments suitable for your employee on this basis. Investing according to this investor profile is a sensible choice, but your employee may also make a different choice.

It is up to your employee to determine whether and to what extent they will reduce their investment risk as they approach their retirement date. We check each year whether your employee’s investment mix matches their investor profile and inform them accordingly.

Introduction of PensioenZekerheid

With the Pension Stabiliser, the pension capital is accrued via the Matching Lang fund and the Matching Kort fund. This allows us to track the insurer's rate and inflation as closely as possible, giving more certainty about the amount of pension capital. But there is no guarantee. The Pension Stabiliser will lapse from the transition and we will offer PensioenZekerheid. With PensioenZekerheid, your employees can use part of their capital to purchase a guaranteed old-age pension and partner's pension from 15 years prior to their statutory retirement date.

Employees who have opted for the Pension Stabiliser will receive notification about this change and how their capital will be invested going forward. This will also explain how they can opt for a guaranteed pension.

Investing in Zwitserleven funds

We invest fully in Zwitserleven funds for employees with the DynamischBeleggen or ProfielBeleggen investment forms. Together with our asset managers, we invest pension contributions with a focus on financial return and sustainability. One of the changes is that investments will henceforth comply with stricter sustainability requirements. More information about our sustainable investment policy for your pension scheme is available on our website, in accordance with the European rules for providing information on sustainability in the financial sector.

Your employee has brought forward or postponed the retirement age

The standard retirement age is the age at which your employee retires under the pension scheme. Your employee is not obliged to retire at this retirement age. They may also retire either earlier or later. In the participants’ portal, it was possible to adjust the standard retirement age to a desired retirement age.

Has your employee opted for this and are they currently investing via Smart Standard or Smart Investing? Then we will take into account the early or deferred retirement age. This means that we invest less and less risky the closer your employee reaches the desired retirement age. After the transition to the new administration system, it is no longer possible for us to take account of a desired retirement age when investing. The investments are based on the standard retirement age in your scheme. And no longer the deferred or early retirement age. This means that the composition of the investments changes.

Is your employee investing in the Smart Standard now?

If so, the change in investments coincides with the transition to DynamischBeleggen. In MijnZwitserleven – the new personal environment – your employee can view the investments after the transition to the new administration system and adjust the investment form if desired.

Is your employee investing in Smart Investing now?

If so, it is important that your employee (as explained above) indicates a choice for a new investment form before the transition to the new administration system. The change in the investments will then be implemented on the date of transition to the new administration system.

Adjusting the retirement date

Your employee can bring forward or postpone the date on which he or she actually wishes to start the pension. Your employee can contact Zwitserleven if they:

wish to bring forward or postpone the retirement date; and
wish to and are able to retire within 5 years.

We can then inform your employee further and adjust the retirement date. We will then use the adjusted retirement age when calculating your pension overview (UPO). The investments may be adjusted as a result.

Change in existing investments temporarily not possible

We are busy with all preparations in the coming period. It is therefore not possible for employees to report a change in the existing investments through the participants’ portal until the transition. Until 28 August 2024, your employees will still be able to notify us of other changes, such as adjusting the additional contributions and signing up or signing out of any supplementary surviving dependants’ benefit shortfall insurance. After 28 August, these changes can also temporarily no longer be communicated. This also applies to you as an employer: you cannot pass on any changes via the employer portal.

After the transition to the new administration system, all changes can be passed on again. Only then via MijnZwitserleven – the new personal environment. We expect the transition to the new administration system to be completed in the second half of September. We will inform you about this at the beginning of September.

Timing of investing pension contributions based on assumed payment

We currently do not add the pension contribution to your employees' pension capital until we have actually received the pension contribution from you. This is also known as 'actual payment'. In other words, the date on which you pay the contribution determines when the contribution is invested. For this, we follow the monthly trading calendar. Employees receive no returns until the investment is made.

From the transition to the administration system of Zwitserleven PPI, we will switch to the ‘assumed payment’ method. This will benefit your employees. It means that we will add the pension contribution to the pension capital of your employees, even if you have not yet paid the pension contribution. This also applies to changes you notify to us at a later date (changes with retroactive effect). Employees will therefore receive an immediate return. You will be charged interest if you fail to pay pension contributions or do not report changes to us in good time.

Example of retroactive effect of change

1. Employee A joined you on 1 September 2024, but you only registered them on 30 September 2024 via MijnZwitserleven. The monthly contribution for this employee is €500. We will charge you for the contribution due in September via the October change invoice. We will charge a fee for interest, as the contribution was not paid on time. This fee has been rounded (1/12) * 4% * €500 = €1.67.
2. Employee B left employment on 1 September 2024, but you only deregistered them in MijnZwitserleven on 30 September 2024. The monthly contribution for this employee amounts to €400. You will receive the excess contribution paid in September via the October change invoice. We will also pay you a fee for interest, rounded to (1/12) * 4% * €400 = €1.33.

The interest fees therefore apply both ways. They are settled against each other as far as possible.

Daily trading

We currently invest the contribution for your employees based on a trading calendar with three trading moments each month. From the transition onwards, we will trade on a daily basis. This means that when an employee wishes to adjust their investments, the change will be executed almost immediately.

Investment costs per category will remain the same

Your employees pay monthly investment costs. We currently apply these fees in the prices of the funds in which investments are made. This is stated as the OCF (Ongoing Charges Factor). We have agreed with you that your employees will receive a discount on these fees. We do this by providing your employees with additional investment units (rebates) each month. The investment costs and rebates are set out in the appendix ‘Overview of costs and charges’ in your current administration agreement.

How we settle the investment costs will change after the transition to the Zwitserleven PPI administration system, but the amount of the investment costs per category will remain the same.

Read how this works

From the transition, the investment costs will be divided into ongoing charges and management fees. The ongoing charges will be included in the prices of the funds. The management fees will be deducted from the pension capital of your employees. The new discount is calculated so that the costs (ongoing charges plus management fees) per category will be the same as your employees currently pay.

To obtain a higher ‘expected pension’ in the standard investment form DynamischBeleggen, we will invest more in the marketable securities category. The investment costs for this category are currently higher, and will also be higher after the transition. As a result, the investment costs for participants with the DynamischBeleggen investment form will increase.

We distinguish various categories:

Category	Before transition	After transition
A (marketable securities)	Fund return	Zwitserleven Credits Hypotheken Mixfonds Zwitserleven Selectie Fonds Zwitserleven Wereld Aandelenfonds
B (bonds)	Matching Lang fonds Matching Kort fonds	Zwitserleven Medium Duration Fonds Zwitserleven Long Duration Fonds Zwitserleven Ultra Long Duration Fonds

The new rebates and a breakdown of the investment costs can be found in the appendix ‘Overview of costs and charges’ of your amended administration agreement. For employees who opt for Vrijbeleggen, the rebate given on the management fees is equal to the rebate applicable to category A (marketable securities).