Hasko van Dalen - former board member CDC pension funds

How did you become a board member at the CDC pension funds?
I worked for NN until my retirement and am a member of the CNV trade union. The CNV asked me to join the CNV delegation during the negotiations on the pension plans that were being incorporated under the new CDC pension funds. When those pension funds started up in 2014, my role came to an end. But several months later, the Works Council approached me. They were looking for a candidate to nominate as their board representative, and thought I’d be suited for the position.

Did you accept without hesitation? After all, you were already retired and had plenty of other things to spend your spare time on.
Well, I didn’t need much time to think about it. Being a board member is an enjoyable and interesting way to spend my time, and I can put my experience to good use. Of course, it does indeed take up a lot of time.

How did you get into the pension sector?
I worked at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment for twenty years. There, I focused on social security and labour relations. In later years, my duties also included Dutch state pensions, company pension plans and the funding of social security schemes. I gradually specialised in these areas. I took traineeships at large insurance companies and was a board member at the Social Insurance Bank (Sociale Verkeringsbank) and a pension fund. When part of the Dutch social security system was privatised, I went to work for NN. We decided to roll out internationally those things that went well in the Netherlands. I started working on global employee benefit schemes, focusing mainly on pensions. At ING Global Pensions, we were active worldwide, from Japan to Chile.

“The eye of the tornado.”

Are you happy with how your career went?
Yes, certainly, my career was very interesting. I travelled to many parts of the world and discovered the exciting side of what many people consider boring: pensions. It often felt like being in the eye of a tornado. Contrary to popular belief, the pension sector is a very dynamic field that needs to keep up with changes in society all the time.

What is your area of focus within the managing board?
I focus mainly on pension laws and regulations, and on communications. Challenges I face are:

• Ensuring we comply with the Financial Assessment Framework.
• Meeting the terms agreed by the social partners.
• Making the pension plan’s participants aware that they need to take responsibility when it comes to their pension.

“A new mind-set with regard to pensions.”

On the one hand you want to raise awareness among participants, while on the other hand the complexity of pension seems to be growing continuously. How do you feel about that?
In 1994, we started developing a new Pension Act. It wasn’t enacted until 2007 and had become more complicated than we initially anticipated. Then, the financial crisis happened and the Financial Assessment Framework was introduced. Understanding what is and isn’t permitted by law and under tax regulations has become very difficult for pension fund boards, and they're under strict scrutiny by supervisory authorities. There’s a reason for that: it ensures better protection for pension fund participants and pensioners, and mitigation of unnecessary risks. The road to pension is not a straightforward one. A new mind-set emerged in the Netherlands with regard to pensions. In the past, Dutch employers provided their employees with enough pension to live reasonably well in retirement. It was like a social security. Nowadays, we see pension as personal assets, which you carry with you throughout your life.

How does this affect communications?
The most important thing is that people should be able to understand their pension. We must avoid using pension jargon and provide clear explanations in plain language. So, we need to:

• Ensure employees have realistic expectations and take responsibility for their own pension.
• Ensure employees know that many events in their lives will have an impact on their pension.
• Offer tools to help employees stay up-to-date on developments in the pension sector and in their own pension.

Which tools do you offer?
Our websites, digital newsletters and My Account, as well as our detailed Pension Planner. The Planner not only helps our employees make pension choices, but also gives them insight into their present and future financial situation. More and more employees are using the Pension Planner, including three quarters of those aged over 58! My wife and I became avid users of the planners when we approached our retirement. At the time, the planners were less sophisticated, but they did provide a good picture of what we’d be able to afford. Based on the outcome, my wife decided to retire a bit earlier and I continued to work for NN until my retirement age.

What is your view on the future of the Dutch pension system?
First of all, some serious decisions need to be made. I expect that pensions in the Netherlands will become more individual, but I’d like some of our solidarity to stay. There should be a balance. The question is, can we cope with the responsibility of having a personal pension pot and a lot of choices. Studies and day-to-day practice have shown that we can’t. We tend to spend our money now, running the risk that we won’t have enough savings when we retire.

“Like a Rolling Stone:
work past your retirement date.”

What passions do you have besides your board membership?
Football club Feyenoord is at the top of my list! I am an active supporter of the club, was chief editor of the club’s magazine for ten years, and coached several teams over a period of twelve years. I’m also a big fan of the Rolling Stones. I visit their concerts and collect everything that relates to these musicians.

Those guys aren’t retiring yet, either.
No, they’ll keep going until they drop. They probably have a bad pension plan!

My wife and I also enjoy travelling. We went on an expedition to Antarctica, travelled to the north of Greenland, to China and Japan, and across the United States. What attracts us most is unspoilt nature.

Do you have a message to the readers?
Take some time to study your pension situation. It's an important part of your assets. Find out how much pension you’ll be getting and what choices are available to you. Especially if you want to make a career step or change jobs. Make sure you know what decisions are best in your personal situation.