An interview with Sebastiaan van den Dries, director of the board bureau of NN CDC Pensioenfonds and ING CDC Pensioenfonds since 15 January 2018. Sebastiaan is highly experienced in the pension sector. He sees changes in the sector and within the pension funds as interesting opportunities.

How did you get involved in the pension sector?
“When I was at university, I studied Financial Econometrics and General Economics at the Erasmus University of Rotterdam. As a student, I also had a job at Deloitte. That's where I first dealt with pension-related matters. Eventually, I became their Director of Pension & Benefits Advisory, advising companies and pension funds.” Sebastiaan then switched to Royal Dutch Shell, where he set up and expanded a pension fund to administer the company’s Defined Contribution (DC) pension plan for new employees.

What challenges do you see if you compare pension with bank and insurance products?
“The CDC pension plan provided by NN Group and ING is a strong product, with an administrator that's a not-for-profit organisation. The overall public opinion in the Netherlands is sceptical when it comes to pension funds. We have to deal with that. Communicating with people to trigger them to think about your product is much more difficult when it concerns their income for the long-term future than when it’s about a product like a mortgage, which they need today. After all, they need that mortgage to get a house. Besides, pension is a default product. The pension plan starts when your employment starts. There's no need to take any action. While that's a good thing, it can result in participants taking a passive role. When someone takes out a mortgage, they need to think carefully about the product, compare options, make choices and pay money.”

“Your employer's pension plan only covers a part of the income you’ll need when you retire.”

Why bother to trigger people into taking action?
“Your employer's pension plan only covers a part of the income you’ll need when you retire. You’ll need more than that to live comfortably. Many of the choices you make now, or events that happen now, will have a major impact on your retirement income. Knowing that, it makes sense to check your financial situation and spending patterns once in a while. Just so you know whether you are on track and whether you need to make or change your financial planning. Our Pension Planner helps you do that.”

“I am used to executing prudent policies while at the same time running the organisation in a lean and mean manner.”

As a manager, you were involved in setting up and expanding a Defined Contribution (DC) pension plan for Royal Dutch Shell. What experience did you take away from that?
“Each pension plan is different, but there are also many parallels. My broad background enables me to work and think at a professional level with all team members at the board bureau and with all stakeholders. I am used to executing prudent policies while at the same time running the organisation in a lean and mean manner. If you're sufficiently knowledgeable and have your risk management in order, it's easier to supervise the administrative parties that deal with the pension plan's administration, communication and asset management.”

What made you decide to take on this new challenge?
“I enjoy managing motion and change; a lot of changes lie in store for us. A new pension contract will take effect on 1 January 2019, new legislation is coming and, several years from now, the Dutch pension system might look completely different. I see opportunities for further steps in administrating the pension plan and communicating about pension with the participants. What also energized me was the talks I had with board members and I felt an immediate click with my colleagues at the board bureau.”

The CDC pension plans expire on 1 January 2019. This means the social partners have already started negotiating new terms and conditions. What role are you playing in this process?
“I strongly believe in segregation of the tables. This means the social partners (employers and trade unions) sit at one table to discuss the new pension plan as part of the employee benefits package. At the other table, we, the pension fund, sit down with the social partners to discuss the administration of the pension plan. In this process, we act as sparring partners for the social partners and try to provide them with timely input on whether the ideas on the table are suitable for administration, and how to communicate about them. As the director of the board bureau, I work as the central point between the strategy and operations. The social partners set out the terms and conditions of the pension plan. The outcome is a new pension contract, and it is our role to duly implement, communicate and execute that.”

“One of our ambitions is be increasingly agile. Our board bureau should be able to anticipate and manage all types of change.”

What are the board bureau’s main focus points for 2018?

1. In terms of operations: ensuring the implementation of the new pension plan with effect from 1 January 2019.
2. Regulatory changes. For example, the General Data Protection Regulation (AVG) is taking effect on 25 May this year. This privacy legislation applies to the entire EU and affects us, because we need to record participants’ personal details in order to administer the pension plan.
3. Being increasingly agile. Our board bureau is a relatively small team of experts, which means we can anticipate and manage all types of change. We continually demand from our outsourcing partners that they have sufficient change capacity.
4. We need to learn from one another and from the organisations whose pension plans we administer, actively connect with participants and stakeholders, and share knowledge and experience. We also need to ensure that external partners change sufficiently and invest in innovations like FinTech.
   
   

Who are the stakeholders?
“The participant is the central point, on which we focus our efforts every day. Within the pension fund, we need to work with the board, the supervisory board and the supervisory committee. And in addition, we work with the employers, NN Group and ING, the Works Council and the trade unions. We also collaborate with Pensioenfonds ING, in the interest of those participants who have a pension in both of the pension funds. There are the supervisory authorities, the Dutch central bank (DNB) and the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) and a number of external parties to which we outsource some of our activities. Finally, we are a part of the pension sector, which is changing rapidly. Within the sector, we can learn a lot from each other so we don’t have to reinvent the wheel each time.”

Where can we find you when you're not at work?
“My family is by far at the top of my list – I spend most of my free time with them. I have a two-year-old son and a 6-month old girl. This summer, we're moving to Oegstgeest. I look forward to taking them to the beach and exploring that beautiful area. And to relieve my head of tension after a long week of work, I enjoy going for a run. My violin has been in its case for ages. Maybe some day…”