interview
Kenan Yildirim
“SNPS is ready for the future”, explains Kenan Yildirim, General Manager of Shell Pensioenbureau Nederland and executive board member of SNPS. He explains to us how so and highlights the main issues that concerned the pension fund in 2023.
What does that mean? Ready for the future?
“Saying that, I am mainly referring to our transition to the new pension system. Legally, all funds in the Netherlands must have transferred to the new system by 1 January 2028 at the latest. That means that the collective pension funds must be divided into ‘personal pots’. From a pension system with entitlements, pension funds in the Netherlands are moving to a system based on the premium with set contributions, but variable pension benefits. For SNPS, we have had this up and running for years."
What does the new pension law mean for SNPS?
“In fact, not even all that much. As a pension fund, we already operate according to the principles and rationale of the new law. We even inspired one of the two contract forms allowed in the Future Pensions Act (Wtp). In recent years, we have gained extensive experience with variable pensions with this fund. We have also learned that our Collective Variable Pension (CVP) gradually moves in line with investment results, without major fluctuations. For this point we dare say that we are ready for the future. But like other pension funds, we have to follow the same steps and further adapt our systems to the new law. It won't happen of its own accord.”
When will you transfer to the new system?
"We will do that on 1 January 2026. This is well before the implementation deadline set out by law. For SNPS, the necessary changes and adjustments are smaller than for pension funds that currently run a defined benefit scheme. That gives confidence that the fund will be ready in time for the changes."
Where do the participants come in to all of this?
“We are keen to stay in close contact with our participants and to understand how they feel about our pension fund. For instance, we are aware that people like having a quarterly overview of the development of their pension capital. We have also devised several tools to help participants to better comprehend their pension. Think of e-learnings, for instance. We also want to gain more insight into how participants view the decisions we have to make regarding the transition. We will be communicating a lot about all of this in the coming period.”
And ESG (Environmental, Social & Governance)? Was this also an area of attention?
“Absolutely. More and more new legislation concerning this topic is being introduced faster and faster. Reporting obligations are also becoming increasingly stringent. As a pension fund, we need and want to deal with this. For example, in 2023, we assessed the sustainability risks in our portfolio and conducted a participant survey.”
Kenan is a business economist, chartered controller and completed his EMBA at INSEAD. From 1999, he held various finance positions at Shell, including Finance Director Shell South Africa and VP Finance Group Service companies, in which he led major change processes. In 2018, he was appointed General Manager of Shell Pensioenbureau Nederland and executive board member of SNPS.
