The funding level and the policy funding level are published around the 10th working day of each month.
Funding level on May 31, 2025: 121.9%
Policy funding level on May 31, 2025: 119.9%
The policy funding level is used to make decisions on indexation. The policy funding level is the average of the last twelve months of funding levels.
Click here for more information about the monthly development of the funding level.
Funding level evolution
The pension fund’s funding level increased by 3.1 percentage points to 121.9% at the end of May. During May, share markets achieved a positive return and interest rates rose, which had a positive effect on the funding level due to the fact that the pension fund hedges part of the interest rate risk. On balance, the funding level result was positive.
In May, President Trump threatened to impose a 50% tariff on European imports starting on 1 June. It was later announced that the tariff increase would be postponed until 9 July. The way Trump threatens to impose major measures only to retract them again later has been given a name: TACO – Trump Always Chickens Out. According to Trump, this negotiation tactic is extremely effective. However, confidence among American consumers is low.
In mid-May Moody’s announced a downgrade of the United States government's credit rating. The United States lost its AAA status. Other rating agencies, S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings, had downgraded the credit rating much earlier, in 2011 and 2023 respectively. This news led to a limited reaction on the financial markets. The reason for the downgrade, the high government debt and the expectation that this will rise even further due to persistent budget deficits, came as no surprise.
President Trump pushed his One Big Beautiful Bill Act through the House of Representatives, further increasing concerns about US federal debt sustainability. In response, the US 30-year mortgage interest rate rose above 5%.
Companies’ better-than-expected quarterly results contributed to positive developments on the stock markets in May. The above-mentioned postponement of the announced trade tariff increases also contributed to further stock market recovery.
The Board will continue to monitor developments closely.
The table below shows the quarterly funding levels in previous years. The table also shows the interest rate we are obliged operate (the market interest) and the returns.
The quarterly funding level is adjusted a few weeks before the end of each quarter.
| Position at the end | 2025 Q1 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
| Funding level | 120.9% | 117.1% | 117.4% | 120.0% | 117.3% |
| Policy funding level | 120.0% | 119.7% | 123.5% | 125.0% | 111.9% |
| Acturial interest rate | 2.6% | 2.2% | 2.3% | 2.6% | 0.6% |
| Annual return | -3.8% | 6.3% | 9.4% | -19.5% | 6.8% |
See the menu on the right of the screen for more information about the financial developments.
The funding level is an important yardstick for judging the pension fund’s financial situation. This shows the relationship between SPF’s pension assets and SPF’s pension obligations, both now and in the future. If the funding level is 110%, for example, then for every €100 SPF pays to pensioners (among others), SPF has €110 worth of assets at that time.
The variable net pension is adjusted annually on the basis of the result achieved in the previous year. This result includes the return achieved on investments, the development of the market interest rate and the result on death within the group of everyone with a variable pension.
| As the end of | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 |
| Funding level | 102.17% | 99.93% | 103.96% | 111.27% | 104.67% |
| Result | 2.17% | -0.07% | +3.96% | +11.27% | +4.67% |
| Average interest rate | 2.30% | 2.50% | 2.90% | 0.45% | 0.00% |
| Return | 4.90% | 8.94% | -23.22% | 3.15% | 8.14% |
The total positive result achieved for the group in 2024 is 2.17%. Despite the negative result as a result of the lower interest rate in 2024, this result is largely the result of the positive return on investments over 2024. This allows SPF to increase the variable pension.
The fund divides the achieved result over 5 years. As a result, based on the result over 2024, the increase in the variable pension over 2025 to 2029 is equal to 0.48% per year.
For more information and figures, see the Brochure 'Indexation’.