“Higher interest rates are beneficial for both the funding ratio and your pension”
How did your pension develop in 2025? How do we ensure that your pension keeps pace with rising prices? And is the 30.5% contribution sufficient for you to accrue your maximum pension?
Pension increases are subject to statutory rules and also depend on the funding ratio of our fund. The reference date for deciding whether your pension will be increased is 30 September 2025. Click here to see what you can expect.
Much depends on the interest rates that pension funds use to discount their future commitments to their present value. Most of the pension payments we need to make lie far in the future. For our pension fund, the 30-year swap rate is the most important interest rate. This rose from 2.90% to 3.24% in the third quarter.
The swap rate increase reflected expectations that the European Central Bank (ECB) would not lower its policy rate for the time being. Moreover, the United States signaled in its 2025 National Security Strategy that it is reconsidering its global role, prompting Europe to take further steps in the area of defence (spending). This will result in higher budget deficits that must be financed, thereby exerting upward pressure on interest rates.
Because the commitments are not fully hedged, higher interest rates are beneficial for the funding ratio. This is because the value of future commitments falls more sharply than the losses on the investments in the matching portfolio and we consequently have more money left to pay your pension in the future.
This quarterly report has been carefully prepared. The final figures for 2025 will be published in the anual report. You cannot derive any rights from this report.