The Dutch Pension Funds Code operates on the basis of the "apply or explain" principle: the point of departure is that pension funds should apply the Code's provisions (referred to as "standards"). Where a standard is not applied (or applied only in part), the pension fund should explain in its annual report why this is the case. With respect to some of the standards, however, an explanation should always be given in the annual report. In its report, the Monitoring Committee states that 83% of pension funds comply with the Code (compared to 77% in 2016), but that not all of the reporting standards are observed. The Monitoring Committee expects improvements in this regard to result in a 100% compliance rate.

As the Code has been in place since 2014, the Monitoring Committee now expects more from the sector and has therefore formulated a number of points more sharply in the report.

In our newsletter, we outline the most important findings and recommendations in the report.