Stichting Pensioenfonds Zorg en Welzijn

Infobox_Company
company_name = Stichting Pensioenfonds Zorg en Welzijn (PFZW)
company_type = Foundation
foundation = 1969
location = | industry = Pension Fund
products = Pension, Financial Services
assets = €85 billion ($123 billion)

Stichting Pensioenfonds Zorg en Welzijn (known as PFZW, formerly PGGM, translation: "Pension Fund for Care and Well-Being") [On January 1, 2008, PGGM ("Stichting Pensioenfonds voor de Gezondheid, Geestelijke en Maatschappelijke Belangen", translation: "Pension Fund for Health, Mental and Social Interests") changed its name to PFZW as part of a structuring that involved the separation of its asset management operations. PFZW currently uses the PGGM brand to market its asset management services.] is the second largest pension fund in the Netherlands. As of December 31, 2007, PFZW had total assets under management of €85 billion ($123 billion).

PFZW's predecessor, PGGM, was founded in June 1969 through the combination of several smaller Dutch pension funds in the healthcare industry. In 1970, PGGM assumed responsibility for the pensions of employees throughout the healthcare and social work sectors in the Netherlands. In 1972, PGGM moved to its current headquarters in Zeist, Netherlands.

PFZW is as a non-profit foundation, controlled by trade unions and employers from the healthcare and social work sectors. At the end of 2006, the governing board of what was then known as PGGM adopted a separation between its policy (structuring of pensions) and implementation (managing of assets and payment) functions. The pension fund (the foundation) continues to formulate pension policy, but was renamed Stichting Pensioenfonds Zorg en Welzijn (PFZW), and a newly created cooperative PGGM now manages the fund’s €85 billion of assets under management. This separation, which took effect in January 2008, was taken in response to new legislation passed in the Netherlands that would limit PGGM’s ability to offer related financial services.

cope of the fund

At the end of 2007, PFZW had 22,000 affiliated employers (employees are enrolled automatically), more than 1.9 million participants. The fund has an investment portfolio of over €85 billion and total annualized return ( IRR) of 9.3% since 1970.

Based on assets, PFZW is the second largest pension fund in the Netherlands, behind Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP. More broadly, PFZW stands in the top 5 of European pension funds and in the top 15 globally, based on both number of plan participants and assets under management.

Investments

PGGM manages the bulk of its investments in-house on behalf of PFZW. In 2006, PGGM and Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP, another large Dutch pension fund, considered a spin-off of their asset management businesses. The two pension funds coordinate their activities in private equity through AlpInvest Partners, one of the largest investors globally in the private equity asset class.

In 2008, PGGM announced that it would divest itself of its holding in the NYSE-listed Chinese operator PetroChina (PTR). PGGM announced that it was making the decision due to the fact that the Chinese operator is involved in human rights violations in the Darfur region of Sudan.

US Investment Activities

In the United States, as in Europe, PGGM is a major investor in financial markets including public equity, fixed income, real estate, commodities, hedge funds and private equity.

ee also

*AlpInvest Partners - manages PFZW's private equity investment activities

References

* [http://www.financialnews-us.com/index.cfm?page=ushome&contentid=2448805902&uid=3308-9804-702819-715301 Pensions muscle into hedge fund territory] (DowJones Financial News)
* [http://www.efinancialnews.com/assetmanagement/pensionfunds/content/2450349152 PGGM to offer full disclosure] (Dow Jones Financial News, 2008)
* [http://www.financialnews-us.com/index.cfm?page=ushome&contentid=2448805902&uid=3308-9804-702819-715301#2348808134 Europe's largest pension funds by assets] (DowJones Financial News, 2007)
* [http://in.reuters.com/article/asiaCompanyAndMarkets/idINL2487889820080124 Dutch PGGM's pension fund Q4 hit by credit crisis] (Reuters)
* [http://www.blueorchard.org/jahia/Jahia/lang/en/pid/166 Major European investment in BlueOrchard’s Microfinance Scheme by PGGM] (Press Release)
* [http://www.ipe.com/news/PGGM_may_withdraw_China_investment_25930.php Dutch Pension Fund PGGM may withdraw China investment]
* [http://www.resourceinvestor.com/pebble.asp?relid=39646 PetroChina Hit by Pension Fund Pressure]

External links

* [http://www.pggm.nl/ "PGGM Website"]
* [http://www.pggm.nl/ "PFZW Website"]