Risk preference survey

How do you view your pension?

SPF aims to make good preparations for the new Future Pensions Act. This includes a survey to find out about our members’ opinions. We’d like to know which policy is the best match for your preferences. It was for this reason that we conducted an extensive member survey from January 26 until February 6. All active fund members, pensioners, and deferred members were offered the opportunity to take part. This article provides more information on the key results and what we will do with them.

SPF invests for your pension. This also means that our investment results contribute to the amount of your pension. Everyone deals with this uncertainty differently. That’s why we’d like to know what you think is important with respect to your pension. Does certainty come first for you? Or do you think it’s okay that we take responsible risks with investments if this increases the chances of a higher pension?

More or less risk?

SPF conducted the member survey anonymously, but we did break it down by age, income, status, and other member characteristics. We used a pension meter with a slider (see picture) and a set of additional questions. The pension meter is a diagram with expected pension outcomes and a distribution of possible pension outcomes around this, depending on whether the economic situation is positive or negative. The outcomes change when you move the slider and take more or less risk. This is how the pension meter measures your risk preferences. In addition, SPF wants to know about its members’ risk-bearing capacity. To what extent do members say that they are able to take risks? And to what extent are members willing to accept fluctuations if they are still building their pension or if they have started receiving their pension?

The survey outcomes give the SPF Board an idea of what pension fund members think about taking investment risks, which helps our fund in formulating its investment policy.

Almost 1,300 responses

In January, a total of 8,179 members received an invitation by email or letter to take part in the member survey. We received 1,296 completed responses, which is a response rate of 15.9%. This percentage is above the average response rate of 10.2% for national pension funds.

The most important results are as follows:

• The extent to which members accept some investment risk differs widely. Most score a 5 on the scale from 0 (no risk) to 10 (high risk).
• There is a clear relationship between being older and a lower acceptance of risk.
• On average, active members and deferred members are more willing to accept risk than pensioners. Married members and those in registered partnerships are also willing to accept more risk than unmarried members. There is no clear difference between manufacturing employees and non-manufacturing employees, although those in higher income groups are willing to take greater risk.
• The largest group of members (42%) expects to get as much pension and state pension as they need. Within all age groups, this is the largest group. 16% expects to get more than they need, 26% expects not to get enough, and 17% doesn’t know or doesn’t want to say. The number of members expecting a surplus or just as much as they need increases with age.
• As age increases, the number of affairs members have arranged (such as utilizing the equity on their own home or making (extra) mortgage repayments or investments) decreases and especially the number of affairs they’re planning to arrange. The only exception is saving, which tends to happen more often in the higher age groups. The number of members with investments or wanting to invest decreases clearly with age.
• 85% of all members would prefer a variable pension that increases more in line with prices. Approximately half of this group would prefer a pension that rises at half the rate of price increases. Four in ten members would prefer a pension that increases fully in line with prices.

Decisions and choices

And now? SPF and the social partners are including the outcomes of the member survey in the decisions and choices relating to the new pension system. They give an idea of how our members think and feel about their pension. What are they uncertain about? Which risks do they want to take and which choices are they prepared to make? This additional information really helps SPF to establish its working method and make the choices it needs to make. 

If you’d like to take part in other online surveys by email in the future, you can continue to receive your mail on paper as well as receive invitations for surveys via email. Visit ‘My SPF Pension’ on our website and enter your email address under ‘My details’. You can also inform us if you prefer to receive all your mail digitally.