Dutch pension funds made an average return of 9.5% after costs in 2023, according to calculations by Utrecht-based consultancy Bell. Two small company schemes that invest heavily in equities reported the best performance.
Bell based its conclusions on returns data of 177 pension funds that were published last month by pension regulator DNB. Though all pension funds reported positive returns, these ranged from 1.5% to 17.7%. Pension funds recovered somewhat from a disastrous 2022, when they made an average return of -23.3%.
Total pension assets under management in the Netherlands also increased, from €1.44trn at the end of 2022 to…