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The Dutch Pensions Federation said it was pleased with the announced additional research into the effects of the new solvency requirements for the Dutch pensions sector, while a spokesman for the €292 billion civil service scheme ABP said the decision was "good news". "Stricter buffers would not only lead to higher pension premiums, but also limit our investment options. As we would have to decrease our investment risks, we would have to increase our allocation to government bonds, with yields that would often be exceeded by the rate of inflation."
Recently, pensions supervisor DNB concluded that the estimates in the quantitative impact study (QIS) of European supervisor EIOPA for rights discounts at Dutch schemes were too high. It said this might come at the expense of pensions accrual, as well as the level of guarantees within the Dutch system.
German pension funds also welcomed the decision. Heribert Karch, chairman of the pension fund association aba, said: "It was a good day for occupational pensions in Europe and for the social partnership in the German retirement provision". Helmut Aden, chairman of the company pension fund association VFPK, said: "This is good news for employees and those paying contributions, as they can now continue to rely on the second pillar of retirement provision – but it was also a good day for funded retirement provision in general". Karch added the commission had "realised late, but it realised" that the rules under Solvency II on capital requirements "would have caused great damage in the occupational pension landscape".
The largest Pensionskasse in Germany – the BVV, for the banking and finance industry – said "it is the right and very important decision" to leave out pillar one of Solvency II for now, but regretted it was only for now.
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