Results of research into risk and your pension

In March, the Heineken Pension Fund invited you to participate in the research into how much risk you want to take with your pension. We think it is important to know how our (former) participants and pensioners view the returns and risks of investing. With this research we got a good indication of that. The reason for carrying out this research is the new pension rules that are applicable with the new pension system.

A total of 2,052 respondents gave their opinion. This group is a good reflection of the total number of (former) members and pensioners of the pension fund, so we can make reliable statements for the entire pension fund. The results of this research provide valuable information that is taken into account by the board when making choices about the new pension contract.

Main results

Fixed or variable pension

• A clear majority of younger participants prefer a variable pension. The preference for a fixed pension increases as people get older.
• About half of the participants indicate that they do not mind if the pension benefit is lower in a certain year, because they know that the benefit can also go up.

Risk investments

• The majority of respondents prefer to take a little to medium risk.
• Relatively speaking, younger participants want to take more risks than older participants.
• The majority indicates that they want to take more risk if the pension fund absorbs reductions in the pension benefit.

How to deal with increasing and decreasing pension

• A large majority of respondents indicate that they want to spread a reduction in the pension over several years.
• Most participants want the pension fund to provide a pension that, even if things go wrong, can only be reduced to a small extent and a pension benefit that can fluctuate as little as possible from year to year.

Why do we take risks with investing
We invest the premiums to grow your pension. The pension that you will receive consists for the most part of profit on the investments. If we take more risk when investing, the chance of a higher pension is bigger. But the chance that the pension will be lower is also bigger.

New pension system
As of 1 July 2023, the New Pensions Act is applicable. With this law, the pension system will change radically. Via this page on our website we will keep you informed about the developments of the new pension system, what the Heineken Pension Fund does and what this means for you.

Next steps
The board uses the results of this research when making choices about how we invest the pension. We expect to be able to tell you in more detail about the choices and the new pension scheme at the end of this year.