Pensions in a perfect storm: financial behaviour of Dutch pension funds (2002–2005)

Abstract

This article examines the financial behaviour of Dutch pension funds during 2002–2005, a turbulent period characterized by stock market corrections and historically low interest rates. Especially for industry-wide funds, financial transactions remained consistent with rebalancing a strategically fixed asset mix, which suggests that the pension sector had a stabilizing influence on financial markets. For company-linked funds, deteriorating funding ratios were counteracted by a rapid increase in pension contributions.