Stichting Shell Pensioenfonds
NEWSLETTER
SEPTEMBER 2015
BOARD MEMBER INTERVIEW: CAROLINE HES
Caroline Hes, 48, is a Senior Investor Relations Officer. Her career at Shell started in 1992 and she has
been working in Investor Relations since mid-2011. She joined the Board of the Pension Fund on behalf of
the employees in March 2012.
You represent the employees. How do
you achieve that?
‘It is incumbent on all Board Members
to weigh up all the interests in order to
strike a balance – for employees, but
equally so for the employer and for
retirees. Bob van Luijk, another Board
Member representing the employees,
and I naturally maintain a great deal of
contact with the Central Staff Council
Pensions Committee. And it goes
without saying that we regularly talk to
other employees too. I am an employee
myself, so it also affects me.’
Where does your interest in the
Pension Fund come from?
‘Firstly, I already have a financial role,
and this is a unique opportunity for me
to engage with a completely different
aspect of the finance field. It is also
interesting for me to be able to hold a
management position.’
Was society’s current discussion of
pensions also a factor?
‘My interest increased substantially
during the period in which the Pension
Fund found itself in economic difficulty.
That’s when it suddenly emerged that it
was not a matter of course that the
Pension Fund’s finances would
automatically be well placed from one
year to the next. That’s the moment that
Continue on page 2.
Caroline Hes: ‘We want to keep a close eye on things.’
AOW AGE SET TO RISE MORE QUICKLY FROM 2016
At the start of June 2015, the Upper
House of the Dutch Parliament agreed
to an accelerated increase in the AOW
age. Consequently, the retirement age
will already reach 67 by 2021, two
years earlier than before the
amendment. The accelerated increase
stems from an element of the coalition
agreement reached in 2012. It means
that from 2016 the AOW age will be
increased in 3-month increments and in
4-month increments from 2018. From
2022, the AOW age will be linked to
life expectancy (in increments of no
more than one year, once every five
years).
Temporary retirement pension
If you retire before you reach AOW
age, as applicable on your retirement
date, you may then opt for a temporary
retirement pension (TOP) to bridge the
AOW-hiatus.
Continue on page 4.
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SURVEY INTO SSPF COMMUNICATION AND
SERVICE ANOTHER FAVOURABLE ASSESSMENT
This year the Pension Fund is participating in the ‘BOP’ for the fourth time. BOP stands for: pension fund
benchmark investigation. BOP is a pension sector initiative and provides a countrywide comparison of the
way in which pension funds communicate. This survey is conducted annually by TNS NIPO. Via this survey, the
Pension Fund is assessed on communication and service, confidence, image and information methods used.
The BOP survey starts in September this
year. Again, it is being conducted
online by means of sampling among
active participants and retirees.
Employees receive an e-mail from TNS
NIPO in their Shell inbox inviting them
to participate in the online survey.
Retirees receive a letter.
Last year the results of the BOP survey
were positive again. Active participants
gave the Pension Fund an average
score of 7.3 out of 10 (2013: 7.4)
and retirees even gave 8.3 out of 10
(2013: 8.2). These scores are
considerably higher than the 2014
national average: (active participants
6.5 out of 10, and retirees 7.1 out
of 10).
Continuation of first page, interview Caroline Hes
I started looking at things in greater
detail.’
Was the topicality a contributing factor
in your decision to agree to become a
Board Member?
‘Yes. It’s easy to stand on the sidelines,
but you can also decide to make your
own contribution. There are no
guarantees that everything will go
according to plan, but you can do your
very best all the same, and that’s how I
approach things.’
You were also part of the Investment
policy implementation workgroup that
devised the new investment plan. How
did that go?
‘I was, together with Paul Morshuis,
Deputy Chairman of the Board. We
looked at the investment plan for the
next 3 years. Besides determining the
strategic allocation to the various
investment categories on the basis of
the results of the ALM study (Asset
Liability Management), we also
elaborated a number of aspects further:
what choices were made in the past
and how should we move forward?’
What is the role of the Investment
Committee?
‘We as a Committee prepare the
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investment decisions for the Board. We
are grateful for the expertise of external
investment consultant Jelle Beelen and
the Pension Fund’s own Risk &
Investment Officer Henk Sytze
Meerema. That works very well: you
listen to several opinions and
arguments, which enables you to make
a responsible decision on the basis of
the Board’s collective expertise. Of
course we have a fantastic organisation
in the form of SAMCo that makes the
investments in practice, and has a
great deal of knowledge and
experience. At the same time, we as a
Committee have our own responsibility,
we want to keep a close eye on
things.’
Can you do this in conjunction with
your regular job?
‘I’m certainly given the opportunity to
get involved in the managerial side of
things, thanks to my line manager and
my colleagues. But I have to find time
during the evening and at weekends to
do all the background reading. But I
don’t consider that to be a bad thing,
as I find it very rewarding indeed. It’s
also very valuable for my personal
development. And of course I think I
have an important contribution to
make.’
COHABITING? ENROL
YOUR PARTNER!
If you are married, or have
entered into a registered
partnership, and live in the
Netherlands the Pension Fund
is automatically notified of this
by your Municipality. Then you
accrue a partner’s pension
automatically.
If you are cohabiting, or plan
to cohabit, the Pension Fund
will not be notified by the
Municipality. Therefore you must
enrol your partner for a partner’s
pension yourself. If you don’t
there will be no entitlement to a
partner’s pension. There are a
number of conditions that you
must meet if you wish to enrol
your partner for a partner’s pension. These conditions are in the
Regulations, which you can read
on the website of the Pension
Fund.
To enrol your partner you use the
form ‘Application for partner’s
pension arrangement’ which
you can also find on the Pension
Fund website.
PENSION CALCULATOR
OPTIONS EXPLAINED IN
FOUR VIDEOS
Thanks to Pension 1-2-3 (Pensioen 1-2-3) it is easier for
employees who change jobs to compare their pension schemes.
Pension 1-2-3, developed by the Pension Federation and the
Dutch Association of Insurers (Verbond van Verzekeraars), is
now available on the Pension Fund’s website.
Pension 1-2-3 is:
■ Part of the Pension Communications Act and came into effect on
July 1, 2015. The objective of the new Act is to improve pension
communication vis-à-vis participants. It must be clear what choices
participants have and what the impact of important life events such as
unemployment, incapacity for work, or death, is for pensions.
■ A
layered means of communication that familiarises participants with
their pension schemes in three steps (layers) from outline to detail. The
various layers use icons, which make the information visually attractive
and easier to understand.
■ The
successor to the introductory letter and is available digitally. This
way, participants can click through the concise information in layer 1
to layer 2 which is more detailed. Finally, layer 3 contains even more
information, such as the Regulations.
With the Pension Calculator you can
make pension calculations for the
gross pension that you are accruing
with the Pension Fund. The Pension
Calculator gives you an insight into
your own pension situation and that
of your dependants. Furthermore, you
can simulate various pension choices.
Four videos give you clear instructions
on how to use the Pension Calculator,
for example, to add pensions from
previous employers, find out the
consequences of exchanging your
Partner’s pension, or what impact a
part-time pension would have on your
retirement pension. In short: in just
three minutes, the videos illustrate
what the Pension Calculator can do
for you.
VIDEO 1 DE PENSIOENCALCULATOR
Een overzicht van alle handige
mogelijkheden van de
Pensioencalculator.
ADJUSTMENT OF ACTUARIAL
INTEREST
As of July 15, 2015, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) decided to
adjust the actuarial interest rate. This entailed an adjustment of the
ultimate forward rate (UFR). The UFR is a forecast of the long-term
interest rate and is part of the Actuarial interest rate that pension funds
use to determine whether they have sufficient capital to meet their
future obligations.
The adjustment of the actuarial interest
rate has two consequences for the
Pension Fund:
1.The monthly funding ratio fell by
2.3% points in July 2015. The
previous monthly funding ratios do
not need to be recalculated based
on the new actuarial interest rate.
Consequently the 2.3% points
decrease will impact the policy
funding ratio gradually (0.2% points
per month). As of June 30, 2016,
the policy funding ratio will be
based entirely on the new
calculation method.
2.The indexation policy is linked to the
policy funding ratio. Although the
policy funding ratio is lower due to
the actuarial interest rate adjustment,
in the short-term, the Pension Fund
maintains its ambition to apply
indexation.
VIDEO 2
HUIDIGE SITUATIE
U ziet in een oogopslag wat uw
pensioensituatie is, zowel bij Shell als
bij eerdere werkgevers.
VIDEO 3
PENSIOENKEUZES
Maak proefberekeningen om
een beeld te krijgen van het effect van
uw pensioenkeuzes.
VIDEO 4
DEELTIJDPENSIOEN
Stap-voor-stap uitleg, al dan niet in
combinatie met een variabel pensioen
en/of uitruil.
English only with subtitles available.
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NET RETIREMENT PENSION
Since January 1, 2015, participants whose pensionable salary exceeds € 92,600 (amount for 2015) per annum,
may only save towards their pension on the portion of salary above this threshold from net income (after deduction
of wage tax). This is a measure introduced by the Government. Therefore Shell has developed a net pension
scheme, whereby participants whose salary exceeds this threshold can also accrue pension capital on that part of
their salary. The net pension scheme is a defined contribution scheme. Shell Nederland Pensioenfonds Stichting
(SNPS) administers the net pension scheme. Information about the net pension scheme is on the SNPS website:
www.snps.nl/uk/shell-net-pension.
Continuation of first page, ‘AOW age
set to rise more quickly from 2016 ’
POLICY FUNDING RATIO
Temporary pension is paid from your
accrued retirement pension, up to
AOW age, as determined on your
retirement date. If the AOW age is
meanwhile increased the temporary
retirement pension may end prior to the
commencement date of your AOW. It is
advisable for retirees to allow for this in
their spending patterns.
From January 1, 2015, pension funds
adhere to a new kind of funding ratio.
The so-called policy funding ratio is the
funding ratios average over the last 12
months. The ‘old’ funding ratio (which
was reported until the end of 2014)
was a snapshot of the financial position
at the end of the month. Thus the new
funding ratio gives a more reliable
picture of whether a pension fund has
sufficient capital to pay all pensions
accrued so far, now and in the future.
AOW starts later for everyone
The AOW age of 67 applies to
everyone born after May 1954. If you
were born before, depending on your
date of birth, your AOW
commencement date has been
determined accurately to the month. For
everyone the basic rule is that AOW
starts later.
On www.checkuwaowleeftijd.nl you
can quickly and easily calculate when
you will reach AOW age (only
available in Dutch).
The policy funding ratio forms part of
the new Financial Assessment
Framework (FTK) which also came into
effect on January 1, 2015. The FTK is
the part of the Pensions Act where the
legislation regarding the financial
obligations of pension funds is laid
down. In order to ascertain whether a
pension fund holds sufficient buffers,
the so-called ‘policy funding ratio’ must
be examined according to the
regulations in the FTK.
In the former situation, changes in
capital or obligations had an
immediate impact on the funding ratio.
The English version of this newsletter is available in
digital format only, at www.shell.nl/pensioenfonds-en
Therefore the funding ratio was highly
susceptible to fluctuations on the
financial markets. The new situation is
less susceptible to fluctuations due to
the averaging over 12 months.
The Pension Fund website shows the
funding ratio per month as well as the
funding ratio for the last 12 months.
The difference between the old and
new situation is as follows:
Former situation (until 2015)
Funding ratio
↓
Assets
Obligations
=
Snapshot
New situation (from 2015)
Policy funding ratio
↓
Sum of last12 funding ratios
12 months
=
Average over 12 months
Disclaimer
The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc participates directly
or indirectly are individual legal entities with their own identity.
Stichting Shell Pensioenfonds
P.O. Box 65, 2501 CB The Hague
E-mail [email protected]
Internet www.shell.nl/pensioenfonds
www.shell.nl/pensioenfonds–en
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In this newsletter, ‘Shell’ is used as a collective term to refer to the
various Shell employers and joint ventures affiliated with the
Shell Pension Fund. No rights may be derived from this newsletter.
The official legal wording of the pension scheme is contained in the
Regulations.