PENSION FUNDS HIT BY CREDIT CRISIS

Dutch pension funds are being hit hard by the ongoing turmoil on the financial markets, central bank president Nout Wellink told MPs last Thursday. The average coverage ratio – assets as a percentage of the amount needed to pay pensions – has fallen to 109% when it should be 125%, Wellink said in answer to MPs’ questions.

Some funds had slipped below the critical 105% mark and three have been ordered to come up with a quick solution to their problems, Wellink said. He concluded that he was happy to be able to state that the Dutch Pension Funds are still in a quite healthy condition compared with the rest of the world. (dutchnews.nl)


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November 3, 2008