Pensioenfonds Zorg en Welzijn is a foundation established by the employers’ and employees’ organisations in the care and welfare sector.
From 1 January 2008, it has been structured as follows:
Board of Governors
The Board of Governors is responsible for defining policy and operating the collective pension scheme. The Board consists of six representatives of the employers’ organisations, six representatives of the employees’ organisations and an independent chairman. The Board’s policy responsibilities include the strategy of the pension fund, the pension policy and the pension scheme, including the contribution and indexation policies and the investment, affiliation and communications policies.
Collective expertise
The Board of Governors devotes a lot of attention to furthering the expertise of its members. Essentially the Board operates on the principle of collective expertise. In other words, it seeks to ensure that all the various skills and knowledge required are present to a sufficient degree on the Board as a whole, with the individual members complementing each other’s expertise.
Monitoring performance
The quality of the Board of Governors is closely monitored. At least once a year, the Board evaluates its own performance. The chairman also holds annual meetings with the individual members of the Board to discuss their performance.
Pension Council
The Pension Council, consisting of participants, pensioners and employers, is an important part of our organisation. In order to implement the principles of good pension fund governance it has been decided to integrate co-determination and the new accountability function into the Pension Council. As well as extensive powers of recommendation, the Council also has the right of approval in some instances.
Support for the Board of Governors
The Board of Governors is supported in the new organisation by the Executive Office, which is responsible for overseeing the operation of the pension scheme. This involves overseeing the work of the administrative organisation. The Executive Office is also responsible for monitoring and executing all management processes. The Board of Governors draws on the expertise of the external actuary, the external auditors and a number of external advisers to the Investments and Audit Committees. The Internal Supervision Committee, consisting of three independent experts, is responsible for supervising the Board of Governors.