John Boers is a member of the managing board of ING CDC Pensioenfonds and NN CDC Pensioenfonds, as a representative of employers ING and NN Group. His areas of focus for the CDC pension funds are asset & liability management, finance and risk. Having retired in 2015, John is also a pension expert by experience.

What motivated you to become a member of the managing board of the CDC pension funds?
Although I had a wealth of experience in the financial world, I had never been actively involved in pension-related issues. My pension awareness didn’t start until I was approaching the end of my career at ING. It was then that I started looking into my pension savings, the conditions of my pension plan and the options it offered. I realised how important it is for a pension fund to communicate with its participants. Participants need to be aware of the options their pension plan offers and, particularly, the risk that their pension savings might not be enough to live comfortably when they have retired. An exciting challenge!

Can you tell us more about your area of focus within the managing board?
I focus on the financial position and risk management of the CDC pension funds. Does the pension fund have enough assets? How should we design our processes to ensure that the pension fund's finances and risks are under control? Are our calculation methods reliable? How and what should we report to our supervisory authorities and stakeholders?

Asset & liability management focuses on our investments. How can we invest the contributions we collect in a responsible manner, or rather, at an acceptable level of risk? To let pension savings grow, you need return on investments. You need to invest, but that means taking risks. We want to realise maximum return on participants’ pension savings, at an acceptable level of risk. That means we need to continually strike a balance.

Tell us a little about your career.
I was trained as a certified accountant in the Netherlands. In 1986 I joined the internal audit department of Postbank, which is now ING. In the years that followed, I worked my way up to Head of Internal Audit at ING Group. Then I left the audit field to continue my career as CFO of ING. I was located in Atlanta as CFO/CRO of ING's insurance companies in North and South America, after which I returned to the Netherlands to join NN and then headed out again to work as CFO/CRO of our joint venture in India. I’ve seen a lot of the financial world. After my return from India, I worked on several projects for ING. My last position was as Head of Operational Risk Management at NN, in the days of its initial public offering. By the end of 2015, I’d had enough and I retired at the age of 63. Now I represent the employer on the managing board of the CDC pension funds, bringing in the experience of a pensioner.

How do you put your experience to good use?
I didn’t start thinking about my pension until I was older. It's understandable that pension awareness doesn’t grow until your retirement draws near. But if you then find out you don't have enough pension savings, what can you do at that point? I was lucky to have a pension plan under a final salary system and my pension benefits were quite secure. I had worked for the same employer for many years and was free to choose the starting date of my retirement. But nowadays, pension benefits are no longer that secure and they're dependent on many factors. Pension fund participants have their own responsibility when it comes to securing their pension. When you’re young, you can still take measures to ensure you'll have sufficient financial scope to make your own choices. When you retire, you start drawing from your pension savings, while you might still have a long life ahead of you. You need to bear that in mind.

“Take the emotion out of pension issues and increase people’s level of knowledge and awareness.”

Is communication important?
Good communications make all the difference. I followed the Dutch pension debate with great interest and noticed that people generally don’t understand how pensions work. As a result, they feel emotional about issues that aren't in fact related to their pension. They don't get the essence of the pension debate.

What do you feel is the essence of the debate on the Dutch pension system?
There are three major challenges:

1. Finding a fair division of benefits and costs between the older and younger generations.
2. Making the pension system more transparent. Taking the emotion out of pension issues and increasing people’s level of knowledge and awareness.
3. Ensuring collectivity in a society that is increasingly individualist.

What is the impact of new laws and regulations on the pension funds’ day-to-day operations?
We’re confronted with tight regulations at national and European level every day. Right now it's the GDPR, the IORP and new requirements being imposed by the Dutch central bank. Laws and regulations surround us all the time. Compliance is a major effort, but we get a lot of support from the board bureau. When regulatory changes arise, we need to act quickly and design our processes adequately. And we have to find a new balance each time!

“We’ve located two CDC pension funds in the same building
to realise substantial savings and create synergy advantages.”

How do the CDC pension funds contain their cost level?
First of all, by signing good contracts. We outsource a large part of our work, like the pension plan’s administration and investments. When negotiating these contracts, we try to get the best value for money. Once a contract has been signed, we monitor the costs and maintain a strict budget discipline. The CDC pension funds adhere to a non-nonsense policy – only the basics. For example, we’ve chosen to staff our board bureau efficiently to avoid overcapacity. We’ve also located two CDC pension funds in the same building to create synergy advantages and realise substantial savings.

In your role as a board member, how do you ensure you weigh all the interests?
All of our decisions centre around the individual participant. Everything we do and decide has an impact on the participant. This is something we must never forget amid all the commotion.

How do you know what the participants are concerned about?
We have thousands of participants. Being in touch with them at a personal level is impossible, so we have sources of information. A lot of feedback reaches us through the Pension Desk. And last year, the Pension Fund Academy was set up, for which we recruited a group of young people, triggering their interest in pensions and encouraging them to consider a future role as a member of the managing board or supervisory board. The Academy is a pool of young talents and at the same time an excellent sounding board. We also collect information through surveys and organise pension events throughout the company.

“Look into your pension. You’ll benefit from the time you spend in the long run.”

What would you advise participants?
Look into your pension and your financial planning. You’ll benefit from the time you spend in the long run – like being able to create more scope to make your own choices. Check out the website, use the Pension Planner, visit the pension events or read the annual report. And if there's anything you don’t understand, get in touch with us. Just ask us!

You’ve already retired. How do you spend your spare time?
I enjoy staying at home to read a good book. In the summer, you’ll find me sailing my small boat in Friesland or anywhere else in Dutch waters. While I used to travel the world for my work, I now quite enjoy the beauty of the Netherlands.