The Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets has published its Pensions sector at a glance 2026 report, based on 2024 data from pension administrators, finding that younger pension members are least likely to make their own investment choices despite having the longest investment horizon. The report also adds complaint-reporting insights for the first time and notes that the effects of the new pension system are still only marginally visible in the data. In 2024, more than two thirds of members in defined contribution contracts could make their own investment choices, mainly through insurers and premium pension institutions (PPIs). For the first schemes moved to the new system, that share was 98%. Even so, only a small proportion chose a different investment profile or built their own investment mix, with particularly limited take-up among younger members. The complaint data show 23,000 reported complaints from pension participants in 2024, mostly about pension calculation and payment, as well as the financial position of pension funds and the information provided to members. Pension funds accounted for 99% of reported complaints and PPIs for 1%. The AFM stresses that all expressions that fall within the legal definition of a complaint should be registered and handled as such, so participants retain access to the formal complaints procedure and, where applicable, the disputes body. The report says data on the new pension system remain limited because, by end-2024, only a small number of pension administrators, specifically pension insurers and PPIs, had schemes under the new framework. The first pension funds joined from 1 January 2025 and are expected to appear in next year's figures.
Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets2026-05-21
Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets reports low pension investment choice uptake among younger members and urges full complaint registration
The Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets’ “Pensions sector at a glance 2026” report notes that although most members in defined contribution contracts can choose their own investments, few do so, especially younger members, and that the effects of the new pension system are only marginally visible in current data. The report introduces complaint statistics, recording 23,000 complaints in 2024, mainly about pension calculation and payment, pension funds’ financial position and member information, and stresses that all qualifying expressions must be registered and handled as formal complaints.