Dutch pension ABP freezes payouts in 2016; "limited" growth ahead

Pensions of 2.8 million people held by ABP will not be increased in 2016. The chances of any increase in the first several years following are very limited, the new chairman of ABP, Corien Wortmann-Kool, told the newspaper NRC. ABP, based in Heerlen, Limburg, is the largest pension fund in the Netherlands, and one of the three largest in the world. Its investors are employed in "the government, public and education sectors," they say on their website. The revenues of the pension fund are affected by low interest rates, Wortmann-Kool said. With lower interest rates, the returns that they obtain from their investments diminish.