Marketing & communications

What trends will we see this year? And what characterized last year? APG experts shed their light on this. Today Anne-Marie Le Doux (head of the Growth Factory) talks about important developments in the field of innovation. "Innovation should no longer just be about new, but also about sustainable."

The Growth Factory is part of APG and focuses on innovations around the needs of participants, employers and pension funds. In short: APG's clients. In doing so, the Growth Factory uses technologies and methods that have proven their worth in other sectors. Looking at her field, Le Doux sees a number of trends that may play an important role this year. These developments do not come out of the blue, but were often already present last year. Covid, for example, often appears to have a reinforcing influence on innovation trends.

Merging

Digital applications quickly come into the picture when it comes to innovation, and that also applies to the Growth Factory. Le Doux expects metaverse to continue as a trend for this year and beyond. "That is a kind of fusion of the physical and digital worlds. People who play Minecraft or Fortnite will be familiar with it. With the help of virtual reality (the user is completely in a digital 3D world, ed.) and augmented reality (a digital addition to the user's physical world; for example, the ability to see on your phone whether a TV or a piece of furniture fits in your living room, ed.) we can increasingly move into the digital world. Metaverse is still a concept, but one that can completely revolutionize our interaction with our fund clients' participants. After all, if a participant or company wants to approach us through Metaverse, we must adapt our services accordingly so that we can also serve them in that world. It is therefore definitely something we are keeping an eye on."

"A development that already played out last year and will continue this year is the need to separate innovation from growth," Le Doux says. "When people buy a new phone, it is good for economic growth, but it also has negative consequences for the environment and climate. In addition, over the past two years we have seen that there is a limit to the abundance we are used to. We've all seen the empty supermarket shelves, soaring energy prices and stores suddenly having to close at 8 p.m. Covid made us realize that scarcity can strike at any moment. Innovation should therefore not only be about new, but also about sustainable. You can buy a new phone, but there has to be a way of breaking down the old one in a circular way so that the raw materials can be reused. And that's really different from how it was."

Trust

Covid has severely tested people's trust in the past two years. "This has been going on for some time, but I don't expect trust in institutions to improve this year," Le Doux says. "We need to respond to this even more. We do this by responding to the call for more transparency and honest answers. That means that, as a company, you want to get the right and relevant information to the customer at the right time, in a way that suits them. At APG we are now working on a Digital Experience Platform, where members can find the answers to their pension questions. That pension information is the foundation, but I expect that there will also be increasing requests for information about how we invest or how we deal with personal data. The better you can answer these kinds of questions as a company, the greater the chance that you will strengthen the bond of trust with the customer. And preserving and strengthening that trust, looking ahead to the transition to the new pension system, is also very important for APG."

Technology trends

Le Doux: "Technology always plays a big role in innovation, like data fabric, cybersecurity mesh and hyperautomation. What you see is that by combining a number of these techniques, our processes are becoming more error-free, data-driven and more controlled. At the Growth Factory, we are now figuring out whether we can use these techniques to take some of the processes in our pension administration a big step further. For example, we are looking into whether RegTech - a combination of technologies including artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing and machine learning - can help us meet compliance requirements in a fully automated way. All that technology reduces the chance of human error. Growth Factory has a stake in this by creating prototypes that we then assess with participants, funds and APG staff for added value."

Emerging opportunities

What is a trend now, will very soon be business as usual, Le Doux argues. "It is therefore important for APG to constantly look around us for emerging opportunities. What do we see happening in other sectors? What do our participants and employers expect from our services in a few years' time? How can we help funds to implement their strategy through the use of new technologies? It's up to us as Growth Factory to come up with solutions to these kinds of questions and test whether they work."

“You work in the pension sector? Wow, exciting...”  Prejudices abound about working for a pension fund or administrator. Perhaps not entirely justified, as a series of portraits of the people who work there every day shows. People like

Manon van Hoek, who works as a growth hacker at Kandoor, a platform where financial professionals answer questions about money matters for free. “At Kandoor we really try to help people.”

What is a growth hacker?

“Well, it’s not about hacking anyway, haha. Growth hacking is a form of marketing where the focus is on growth. To get more visitors, my two coworkers and I are constantly improving the platform. What can we do differently, what would the effect be? And then try it out. Then we analyze the data. Are there differences and if so, what causes them?”

Can you give us an example?

“Kandoor has a chatbot, an automated conversation partner on its website. People can get personal answers to all their financial questions through that. We are investigating whether they prefer short answers or whether a detailed explanation is more helpful. We use experiments to find out exactly what questions they have. We are also testing how best to ask for feedback. Or at what point visitors drop out. And whether blogs, for example, are still up-to-date enough or whether they need to be modified.”

Does Kandoor want to become the biggest help site for finances?

"We would really like to expand our reach. Anyone who types in a financial search question on Google should immediately find us.”

So the trick is to get to the top of Google search?

“Yes, that is the challenge. If people have a question about retirement or taxes, for example, they can get the answers from us. All relevant information about financial matters should be on our platform. Plus, the website must be technically structured in such a way that Google can recognize us. However, their algorithm changes constantly. So, we have to constantly keep up with that.”

How many visitors does Kandoor currently have?

“In 2020, we had a million and a half visitors and over half a million questions came in. We will probably reach a million this year, because we already have half a million questions now. We are very happy with that. I think it would be great if Kandoor is seen as a brand soon. That people just know: I have a question about finances, so I’ll go to Kandoor, because they will help me. That is our ultimate goal.”  

Are you a financial wizard yourself?

“I know a lot about data analysis, but I had absolutely no financial knowledge when I joined Kandoor two and a half years ago. I’ve learned a lot here. I didn’t know anything about pensions, for example. I now know that it’s important to start thinking about it at a young age. Because now you can still arrange it properly.”

So you give your friends that advice, but you don't answer questions on the platform?

“No, the financial guides do that. We have a whole community of volunteers. These are all experts who give free information so that people can make their own decisions. We also have bloggers who write about different money topics.”

What makes your work so interesting?

“It's very varied. You are never done learning because there is always a new development. So, you have to constantly come up with new solutions. What I also like is that Kandoor has a social mission. For me, that's the best of both worlds: the constant challenge of being innovative, combined with the social aspect. At Kandoor, we really try to help people with financial stress. I’m much more aware now of how many people have that. And how much impact that has on their lives.”

Does that move you?

“Yes, you see that sometimes people are in so much trouble that they don't know what to do anymore. They are often very grateful for the help of the guides. I get their feedback and sometimes they write, ‘You saved my life. I am so happy that someone is helping me.’ On the one hand, it is very nice that someone has really been helped. But it's also very sad to see people in these kinds of situations.”

What would you change in society if it were up to you?

“The benefits system. It is underestimated how difficult it is for the average Dutch person to navigate through that. And how afraid they are of doing it wrong. Because if you apply for something and it turns out you're not entitled to it after all, then you might be in debt immediately. So, I’d like to make that system easier.”

Anything else you’d like to tackle?

“The letters from the tax authorities. Many people simply don’t understand the content. The language is too complicated. They also come to Kandoor for help. But I don’t know if that problem should be solved by the government alone. Maybe it is also because they have never learned how to do their tax return. Then it’s not surprising that you make mistakes. That’s something schools should teach.”

“Do you work in the pension sector? Wow, that sounds exciting ... (but not really).” There are more than enough preconceptions about working for a pension fund or administrator. However, these may not be entirely correct, as illustrated by a series of portraits of people working in pensions every day. One of these is Roel Broen (36), the marketing manager responsible for marketing the ABP and PWRI pension funds. “It is precisely because our participants aren’t entitled to choose their pension fund that we attach so much value to customer satisfaction.”

You have been working at APG for eleven years now. Does that mean that you know all the ins and outs of the pension sector?

“Not really, to be honest. I’d rather not know them, even. In my professional field, marketing and communication, you need to retain a fresh gaze to boost your creativity. If I were to dig deeper into all the intricacies of the pension sector, I would probably no longer be capable of bringing across the message in a way that can be understood every layperson.”

Together with the communications manager, you lead a team of around 40 marketing professionals, communication specialists, and strategists. What is it exactly that you do?
“This can vary from a relatively minor task like compiling a message about a topical item for our public website to setting up a large-scale campaign, such as the ABP Reality Check, which was launched by Queen Máxima. Communication with our employees – and with our pension participants on their behalf – is also included our package of tasks. I, in turn, supervise the team and offer them an environment in which they feel safe and comfortable. Additionally, I make sure they remember who they are working for, because the satisfaction of our participants and their employers is our foremost concern. This is my first managerial position, by the way, and a wonderful development opportunity.”

Does this task make your marketing heart beat faster?
“Yes. When I was hired here as a trainee, I never heard anyone use terms like ‘customer focus’ or ‘innovation’. These have now become the key themes in our approach. From this perspective, APG is like a candy store to me.”

Wouldn’t you secretly prefer to work at one of those trendy marketing agencies?
“Selling a can of beer does seem a bit easier to me, and definitely not as complicated. But helping a retired person actively manage his or her pension is a lot more interesting. This sector makes a contribution to society. Every employed person in the Netherlands puts one fifth of their weekly earnings toward their pension, so that they can lead an enjoyable life later on with peace of mind. On the other hand, when you see how few people in the Netherlands are giving their pensions any thought at all, this can also be alarming. Did you know that 70 percent of people in the country haven't given their pension a moment’s thought? That’s a huge percentage! There are so many people who know nothing about the Pensioenwet [Pensions Act], when they will receive their pension, or what their options in respect of this. In this sector, we assume that they know about three times as much about their pensions than they actually do – which is practically nothing. We really need to reduce this 70 percent to 30 or even 40. Or 0, if at all possible. Because it’s not just about your future income; it’s all about the bigger picture, which extends to your health and lifestyle. What’s important to us is helping people make informed choices. We want to act as a guide to them. And we really have a long way to go in this respect.”

Enough challenges for you to deal with?
“Certainly. I want the reputation of our funds to grow stronger. Every participant, every consumer holds certain expectations with regard to the services they receive from a bank or insurer. And this applies equally to a pension fund. We want to offer a solid customer experience.”

How important is that for a pension fund that people are obligated to join?
“That makes it even more challenging, because we are actually behind in this game with a score of 1-0, so to speak. Customer satisfaction is so important to us precisely because our participants don’t get to choose their pension fund. Pension funds need to become more customer-oriented.”

Confidence in the pension sector has been dropping considerably among participants for quite some time. How do you deal with that?
“This is a challenge facing the entire sector, and something we should take very seriously indeed. Putting the participant first, transparency, and offering support when this is needed most are all things that will help restore confidence in us. We need to keep the customer’s perspective in mind in everything we do, no matter how difficult this may be. In addition to this, we need to enter into the dialog with them, particularly on more difficult topics such as responsible investment. We support funds and help them with this. But this is a slow process. Confidence is gained in inches, not miles.”

If you were to work anywhere else, where would this be?
“I very quickly feel at home in larger organizations that deal with complex issues and have an impact on society. So that would have to be a bank, insurer, or funeral provider. Take DELA, for example. They are very good at putting emotion into rational and functional matters. This makes things more tangible for the consumer. Their campaign, with the message ‘Why wait to tell someone how much they mean to you if you do it today?’ has made many people think.”

Do people try to avoid you at parties when you tell them that you work in pensions?
“That depends on the party. People aren’t as interested in what you do in the soccer club cafeteria. They just laugh about what they call ‘money grubbers’. That’s the image these sectors have, after all. On the other hand, at parties with my friends from college we have in-depth discussions about the sector and the marketing and communications profession. The pension sector really isn’t that different. Many companies share our challenges: How do you deal with data, how do you ensure satisfactory customer experience, how do you transform an organization in terms of digitization, how do you activate people, how do you define an organization’s image more clearly?”

Collaborative project pension world offers insight into (future) finances

On the day it officially goes live, it also wins an award: the Pension Checker app. The tool is the product of a collaboration between several pension funds, led by the Pension Federation. The ABP / APG Experiments Team developed the prototype.

The Pension Checker provides easy insight into how much pension you will receive in the future. And today, during the last day of the Pensioen3Daagse, it won the PensioenWegwijzer award.

How much pension will I receive later? How long do I still have to work? Can I retire earlier? The Pension Checker, which can be downloaded from today, provides immediate answers to these and other questions. The advantage of this app is that it offers a complete overview of the pension. So including AOW and 'pension funds' accrued with other funds.

The application originated from an initiative of the Pension Federation and Dutch pension providers and large pension funds such as ABP and APG. Today it was officially launched at the end of the Pensioen3Daagse and thus won the Pension Guide 2020. This prize is awarded for initiatives that make it easy for people to gain insight into their pension and, where necessary, to take action.

The Pension Checker can be downloaded free of charge from the Google play store or the App store. Logging in is done as follows:

• Log in with the DigiD;
• Check the net monthly amount of AOW and pension;
• See what early retirement means financially;
• Discover what extra savings will bring.

Who are the people answering your telephone call when you have a question about pensions? And who are the people ensuring that you receive your pension statement every year? What are the underlying factors in making sure there is enough money later on for your pension payment? We take you with us to have a look behind the scenes.

Steffie van Gils (34) is customer experience manager at APG.

Isn’t it boring to work in the pensions industry?

“Absolutely not! Pension is crucial in one’s life. It involves money you have worked for many years and, if all goes well, continue to live on for many years to come. Applying for pension is a once in a lifetime event. It is a huge moment in one’s life and has great impact. I truly enjoy, together with my colleagues, ensuring that everything is arranged as well as possible and that people know where they stand, resulting in them taking that step feeling safe.”

But this probably wasn’t the job you dreamt of as a girl?

“LOL, no, it wasn’t. Other professions were much more tangible back then. I was trained as a journalist and started doing more work in marketing and communication as a freelancer. After I moved to South Limburg, I ended up working for APG in Heerlen. So, this job really crossed my path. We are now five years down the line; I enjoy it so much more than I anticipated.”

What is it that you do exactly, as a customer experience manager?

“I am involved in everything to do with customer perception and customer experience. From customer experience, CX, we look across all departments with the view of the participants: how are the services experienced by them? Letters, website, the answer given on the telephone, it all has to be one logical narrative. The department CX was established at APG only recently. The interest of the customer has always been our priority, but internally we sometimes had a different interpretation of that interest. Now, our standard starting point is: we shouldn’t come up with ideas ourselves on what the participant wants and finds important, we have to ask him or her. This department was established from that starting point. In a world in which customers don’t really have a choice, the entire organization still has the intrinsic drive to place the customer at the heart of everything we do.”

How do you check what the customer wants?

“We ask customers to provide feedback in all kinds of different ways, to help us continually improve our services. By means of questionnaires, for example, we send those out quite often. We have steady consultative groups for some of the funds and these groups commit to us for a longer period of time. Whenever we come up with something new, we present the idea to the members. We also conduct interviews by telephone, during which we ask people questions about a certain topic. How do you experience this, how did that go, what can be improved? And people are also sent a text sometimes. We then ask: is this text clear to you or does it raise questions? The one form is a better fit sometimes than the other. That’s why we don’t use only one method. It can be quite suspenseful to ask customers to provide feedback, but they are very willing to participate. That’s really cool.”

What do customers specifically notice in terms of your work?

“I actually hope that customers don’t notice my work too much. We have done a good job when everything they were looking to arrange or asked went smoothly, if they didn’t encounter any problems and look back on that experience with a positive feeling. Ultimately, all teams within APG are the ones achieving this. I am just a link in the whole to get the process started.”

What do you do to relax?

“I usually enjoy visiting a museum or going out for dinner, but that is nearly non-existent right now due to corona. However, it is still possible to go for a walk and I just love watching Netflix. I really watch everything I possible can because I am very curious to see how other people look at the world. I can sometimes also profoundly disagree, but it is still educational.”

If we would call your colleagues, what would they say about you?

“Teammates recently referred to me as creative. I also hear quite often that I am cheerful and that my mood gives other people energy. I try to see and to track everyone. I am also an optimist, have plenty of hope and a good spirit. I enjoy every step forward. Everything is better than moving backward or coming to a standstill. Doing things a bit better every day, that’s what I derive my daily dose of energy from.”

What should customers be able to expect from you in the future?

“That we continue to fight to have their voices heard in all decisions that are made, small and large.”

Customer satisfaction is increasing and feedback from members and employers is cautiously becoming more positive: the result of two years of hard work on increasing customer focus.  Rob Schormans, board member of the Members and Employers Services, is giving us an update on the progress to date. 

At the beginning of this year, even before the outbreak of the corona crisis, Rob Schormans and his team spent a day at the Efteling amusement park. Not so much for a ride in the Python or the Flying Dutchman (or maybe just a bit), but to gain inspiration: how does the fantasy-themed amusement park interact with its customers and what can APG learn from it? The working visit is part of the shift towards customer focus, which Members and Employers Services have been making for the last two years, in anticipation of the new pension system. The basic principle: empathizing with all pension-related moments in the lives of members and fully supporting them in this with maximum appreciation. That is not a matter of simply flipping a switch. Implementing all changes takes time, emphasizes Schormans, who is responsible for Marketing Operations within Members and Employers Services management. Still, the first results of the new approach are now starting to emerge and they are positive.  

How was the customer served before: what changes did you have to make? 

“APG’s main focus used to be on administering the pension benefits to the best of its ability. We lacked focus on people and the organizations behind that pension. Anyone who was new to the pension fund, became incapacitated for work or had lost a loved one, received a business-like letter with complicated terms such as ‘value transfer’, sometimes from several departments in a single week. Those letters didn’t do justice to the emotional side of important life events. Besides, people often found it difficult to understand what was in the letter.”

So that needed to change. How did you go about that? 

“The emphasis had to shift to the needs of members and employers. We therefore adopted an agile working style to provide them with a faster service. We’ve also started working in multidisciplinary teams, not just pension specialists, but also IT people and marketers, for example. Together, you gain a quicker understanding of what members and employers need. We’ve mapped out fourteen important live events from a pension point of view, from memorable events such as a new job, marriage and birth to painful events such as divorce and death. We also examined the bottlenecks in our services, such as the complaints procedure and the payment of survivor’s pensions.”

What do customers notice of the changes in practical terms?

“When future members register with a fund, they now receive a friendly welcome card first. By doing this, you immediately set a warm tone. In addition, we try to write our letters as comprehensibly as possible and communicate more digitally. Nearly sixty percent of members indicate that they want to receive communication digitally. We’ll be testing these letters or mailings and our website in member’s panels: do people understand it? We also seek contact more often, which allows you to dose the information better and build up a relationship. For example, nowadays, we send people a card for their ‘retirement anniversary’, that’s the day they registered with their pension fund.” 

So you are working on improving communication. Does that also apply to the service provision itself?

“Certainly. Previously, people could only submit complaints in writing and had to wait weeks for an, again, written reply. Now, a complaint can be submitted digitally and you’ll be called back within 48 hours. Another example is survivor’s pension payments, which could take months sometimes. I recently spoke with an employer, a school principal. He told a poignant story: the partner of a deceased teacher was unable to pay for the funeral and the children’s school fees, because the survivor’s benefit took such a long time to come through. Fortunately, we’ve been able to considerably shorten that period. We’re also working on simpler procedures for submitting information and making payments.”
 

What has changed in the provision of services to employers?

“We no longer just look at scope, but now also focus on the difference in needs between organizations. Small employers want the pension administration to run smoothly and they want us to provide assistance to employees in practical terms. Large employers are more concerned with issues such as sustainable employability and managing sickness absence. We therefore support them through an information library, webinars and by training internal staff for specialist employee questions, such as early retirement. As part of our approach, we also work closely with the affiliated funds.”

What obstacles do you encounter in the shift to customer focus?

“Ideally, you would like to change everything at once, but you have to do it in small steps, because you’re also dealing with legal requirements, technical possibilities and a complex working environment. It also takes time to learn to see things through the eyes of the customer. We regularly listen to the Customer Contact Center, complaints handling and member’s panels. We also set up a ‘feedback loop’ recently. Feedback ambassadors collect customer feedback throughout the organization. We discuss this feedback on a weekly basis. Such as the surprise of a member who had subscribed to a digital newsletter, only to receive written confirmation in the mail. The feedback manager then contacts the teams or IT to see how we can implement improvements. We feed the result back to the colleague who introduced the improvement and, where possible, to the participant or employer.”

What have you learned from how other organizations deal with customers?

“We looked around at other financial companies, such as Achmea, ING and Nationale Nederlanden, as well as online companies such as Zalando and Bol.com and visited the Efteling amusement park. A visit to Tony Chocolonely was also on our list, until the corona crisis hit. At Zalando and Bol, for example, the track & trace option allows customers to see exactly where their parcel is. This teaches us that turnaround times must be as short as possible and that you must keep members and employers well informed. That day out in Efteling was also an educational experience. Staff at Efteling try to surprise their customers every day. They aren’t satisfied with a seven out of ten for customer satisfaction, they aim for a perfect ten.”  
    

Can APG already see a shift in focus towards the customer being reflected in higher customer satisfaction?

“We measure that with the Net Promoter Score. You ask customers to what extent they would recommend your company to others. Two years ago, the NPS was negative, we had more critics than ambassadors among our members and employers. Since then, we can see a slight upward trend and even considerable pluses in the monthly scores. The feedback also becomes more positive. At the same time, people use the customer-friendliness of say Bol.com as a frame of reference, they expect the same from APG. The bar is therefore set higher and higher. Everything is pointing in the direction that we’re indeed making the desired shift towards the customer but as an organization, you need at least three to four years to complete it. You can compare it to a marathon. We’re halfway through, legs are feeling tired at times, but with focus, the right mindset and encouragements from the spectators, we’re determined to make it to the finish line.    

After two years of research and preparation, the time has come: SPW, the pension fund for housing corporations is making six hard promises to its participants and employers today. It is a significant step for the pension sector. “SPW is really going out on a limb with these pension promises,” says APG executive board member Francine van Dierendonck.

Birte van Ouwerkerk and Jim Schuyt are the driving force behind the pension promises. Birte is  responsible for the development and implementation of the pension promises as the Marketing communication strategist. Jim has been the chairman on behalf of the employers and the pension promises from day one.

Why are you making these promises to participants and employers?

Jim: “Promises are often made by commercial parties to get clients to commit to them. For example, Jumbo, where you can get your groceries for free if there are four people in line. We, as a pension fund, don’t feel that pressure. Because it is mandatory, participants can’t just switch to a different fund. That fact makes us see this as an extra responsibility. Even without being required to, participants should choose us; that is our approach. With the pension promises, we are therefore making the topic of pension and SPW’s services tangible and we are showing what the fund stands for.”

Do participants and employers really need such promises?

Birte: “Yes, we think so. These promises are based on extensive research among participants and employers. How are they seeing our services and the subject of pension in general? Although SPW scored positively on that first point, we also detected a lot of questions and uncertainties: will there be enough left for me and what can I expect from my pension fund? You can explain to them that those worries are largely unfounded. You can also put it in stronger terms by promising that the participants’ investments are in good hands.”

Making promises. But, with the new pension contract, isn’t that exactly what we are trying to get away from?

Jim: “With these six promises we are not going to do something completely new, or promise things we have never done before. The promises that participants and employers have chosen are showing things that we were already doing on a daily basis, but that they didn’t necessarily know much about. So, we are responding to questions that our participants and employers already had. These questions will not be that different when the new pension contract kicks in down the road.”

What was APG’s role?

Birte: “25 of our people were involved in the creation of the promises. From people working at the Client Contact Center (KCC) to the Employers’ services and Pension administration departments. These promises are also very valuable to APG, because they give APG employees more clarity about what is expected from them and provides a focus in the service.”

How will you make sure that these promises are really going to settle in the DNA of SPW?

Birte: “We are going to go live in controlled phases and will take a year and a half to fully integrate the promises into our services and communication. We will stay in touch with participants, employers and APG employees to see how it goes. We are now starting on the external branding campaign to inform employers and participants, with the objective of creating awareness during this phase.”

SPW’s six promises

1 Guaranteed income for the rest of your life, for you and your partner.

A guaranteed income for the rest of your life, but also for your partner and your kids if you die. Ensure income in case of disability.

2 Your investment is in good hands, with proven returns.

SPW achieved an average investment return of 7 percent for the past twenty years. Investments are transparent, responsible and socially conscious.  

3 Room for you to choose what you want to do with your pension.

You choose when you want to retire, partially or completely. First a bigger amount and later a smaller amount. Partner’s pension or no partner’s pension.

4 Personal pension check, to use when you want to.

Online, by phone on chat. Use it when you want to. Because you want to know if you’re on the right track. Or because something changed in your life. Or because you want to apply for your pension.

5 Complete overview and insight into your future income.

Always and everywhere clear overview & insight at Mijn SPW (My SPW). All expenditures and income in a row. So that you know what you are doing now and how much money you need. And you can see what you want in the future and how much of a pension you will need at that time. You can choose and calculate for yourself in Helder Overzicht & Inzicht (Clear Overview & Insight), the calculation tool in Mijn SPW.

6 Pension plan for all of us, customized for housing corporations.

Developed in collaboration with all relevant representatives of employers and employees in the sector.

Employees of the KlantContactCenter (KCC) for bpfBOUW are able to predict the questions of participants since a few weeks ago. And no, they do not use a crystal ball to do so. The questions are handed to them by Next Best Question (NBQ), an experiment of the GroeiFabriek that became a working reality.

The GroeiFabriek

The GroeiFabriek, the innovation lab of APG, conducts experiments with concepts helping us to serve the participant the best way we can. Using the word “experiment” already indicates that an idea sometimes is not good enough to take into production. But the ideas also include some gems that truly help us progress. NBQ is one of those ideas.

Next Best Question

The same as Netflix is able to predict our viewing behavior, NBQ predicts the reason why a participant is contacting us. Following an analysis of data, such as personal information, previous conversations, mail, e-mail messages and life events, an algorithm shows a top 5 of most probable questions when an employee of the KCC assists a customer by telephone, chat or email. This means the employee concerned is able to help the participant faster and better by proactively asking and responding to questions. This way, the participant gets a more comprehensive answer and it is less likely for him or her to call us back with a follow-up question. And for the employees it is very convenient to have the information handy as early as possible.

Edo Westerveen, employee of the KCC, definitely sees the advantages. “This is a great start, an additional service to help the participants even better. This instrument is especially beneficial for the customer contact specialists who are just starting. And once the algorithm becomes even better, it can really be an important resource for outstanding service provision.”

Only bpfBOUW?

The experiment was developed by the GroeiFabriek for bpfBOUW. That is why Next Best Question initially went live for this fund. But other funds are showing interest as well. The first test results are very promising.

Interview Gerard van Olphen in the Finacial Telegraaf

How does APG deal with the current situation on the financial markets? What does this mean for the new pension contract? What does the management of an organization like APG look like in a situation of crisis? These are the main topics that are discussed in an interview that went online today with Gerard van Olphen in the Financial Telegraaf.

Van Olphen states, among other things, that all the consequences of the developments surrounding the new Corona virus make the questions surrounding the new pension contract even more pressing: “The question that arises is how to divide windfalls and setbacks over generations. This crisis shows that it is unwise to saddle one specific generation with the setbacks. ”

Read the full story here (Dutch).

How do people make pension choices? Professor Henriëtte Prast speaks during the APG Summer Course - an inspiration meeting starting today for directors of pension funds - about the application of insights from behavioral economics in the customer journey.

By using proper communication and offering appropriate choices, the behavior and attitude of a customer or, more specific, a pension participant, can be guided. Emotions, evoked by language, play an important role in this process. Says Henriëtte Prast. And in order to properly arrange a customer journey, one has to know the psychological, cognitive, emotional, cultural and social factors of human (financial) decisions, according to the professor. “You first have to know how people think and act when it comes to their financial journey”, Prast explains.

What is the most crucial insight from behavioral economics pension funds should start working with?
“The fact that people, when it comes to making complicated choices, drive on intuition instead of on rationality and that setting aside money is systematically postponed. Even if people have all the knowledge in the world, know that pension is important and want to have a good pension. The way in which choices are offered therefore has a major impact on what people will “choose”. The key to success is to make the “right choice” easy. This is mainly due to the fact that intention does not translate into behavior which, consequently, makes it irrelevant to influence the intention by means of education and information.”

And how do you guide people towards making the right choice?
“There are several ways to achieve this.
First: offer the “right choice” as the silent choice. In other words: silence means assent. If you want people to set aside money for their pension, you can achieve this by offering them a solution in which they save automatically, unless they opt out. Take a self-employed person, for example. Now, if a self-employed person doesn’t take action, he/she is not setting money aside. That system should be adjusted: a self-employed person not acting, is setting money aside. And he/she must actively opt out should he/she not want to save for a pension.

Second: respond to emotions using language. We have to start reaching people in a different way. Pension funds now communicate with rational information: factually correct, not misleading and understandable. When they talk about pension accrual, they use words from a concrete domain: war, battle, build. But we have to start wondering what works for what target group. Ask yourself what image is portrait by language. If it evokes a positive association, it increases the interest in pension, but otherwise it repels participants. And the pension communication is actually not considering the above.”

Other options are:

• Offering a self-binding mechanism: if you sign now (December), your holiday allowance will automatically be transferred to your pension account;
• Limiting the possible choices;
• And framing the pension outlook in percent of the current income instead of in Euros.

How progressed in fact is the pension industry in applying the principles from behavioral economics?
“I only see few convincing examples. That will partly, but not solely, be due to the fact that the government and regulatory authorities set out rules based on an outdated model to raise awareness.”

Communicating with participants is not always easy. The Dutch are “consciously unconcerned” about their pension and do not read their pension communications. So, how can we reach them at all?
“Communication is not the solution if you don’t offer meaningful choices. The goals of pension communication are clearly described. And one of these goals is for the participant to know what choices he/she has. What should you be thinking about? For example, I am of opinion that my pension is insufficient in the low scenario. So, I would like to make the choice of hedging that downside risk. This cannot be done by extending the work life in due time, as the pensionable age also is the mandatory retirement age. Save more? But then I would have too much pension if the realistic scenario or the windfall scenario comes to pass. Moreover, what should I invest the money in? I am not following the course of my pension fund, because, in that case, the value of my money would actually decrease in the disappointing scenario.
The only example of a choice I encountered is: choose to retire early. That could be the case if your pension outlook is more than sufficient - a luxury situation. And you can always decide later on whether or not to retire early. In short: why spend time on reading information if there’s nothing to be gained from?”

The APG Summer Course is an inspiration meeting for pension fund managers of funds that are clients of APG. During this summer school we challenge administrators and ourselves with new insights from "outside".
One of the speakers was Henriëte Prast: professor Personal Financial Planning at the University of Tilburg and an expert in the field of personal financial planning and the role of feelings and emotions involved.

APG’s new public report ‘Walk with us’ has been nominated for the communication Pension Pro Awards 2019.

The public report ‘Walk with us’ went online this week. With this report APG as a major pensions player takes responsibility for making the welter of information that people receive easier to understand and for raising awareness about pensions. Which is why the Pension Pro Awards 2019 jury nominated APG in the categorie communication.

Praise for personal pension pots
ABP has been nominated among other things for the personal pension pot. Participants can see at a glance how much money they contribute themselves, how much the employer contributes and the return that ABP obtains. The personal pension pot is currently available to more than 850,000 participants.

The jury’s comments on this are: ‘ABP is committed to the collective interest, but with due attention to the individual. The clear view provided by the ‘personal pension pot’ is a step forward in this regard: Clear communication with and proximity to the participant will be essential in the years to come. Commendable: bold, and well-timed with regard to the national pension debate.’

Inclusivity approach is admirable
PWRI is to invest €100 million a year in companies that create extra jobs for people with work limitations. Providing the investment produces a financial return.
To demonstrate this, PWRI encourages the companies to have their efforts in the area of inclusivity reflected in a certificate from the PSO (Prestatieladder Socialer Ondernemen, literally “Performance Ladder for Social Entrepreneurship”).

Reason enough for the jury to nominate PWRI for the public award. The jury report refers to a unique form of engagement that looks specifically at aspects that are important to the pension funds’ backers. ‘PWRI’s approach to inclusivity is special, and admirable: an ESG solution in the direct interest of the participants. This creates involvement with and proximity to the people on whose behalf all our efforts are made.'

The awards will be presented on June 20. You can vote for APB and PWRI until 4 p.m. on Thursday June 13, 2019 on Pension Pro Award 2019.

Today APG is launching an accessible, public-friendly version of its annual report: ‘Walk with us’. With striking online clips on social media and other channels, we invite people in to step into an interactive video (filmed from the viewer’s perspective). They then actively walk through the pension year alongside APG. On their way, they encounter a number of relatable dilemma’s about money, sustainability, and the future. The choices they make, tell us something about the user’s attitude and determine the next part of the video. That way, people are only shown things that are relevant to them. Step by step, users learn more about pensions and the role APG plays, for them and for the Netherlands.

Personalized information

After the video, the viewer is redirected to a personalized website. This website offers in-depth information about the subjects that were touched upon in the video. This can include topics like our investment results and the ways we provide more insight into pensions. The choices the viewer made during the video will determine the information they are presented with afterwards. As people are constantly on their cell phones, the video and platform were designed especially for use on mobile phones. They can also be viewed on a computer. The subjects which you see in the video and the platform, are based on the text form APG’s Annual Report 2018. ‘Walk with us’ is all in Dutch, because it’s developed for the people in the Netherlands.

The public report returns

People have to deal with many things in any given year. Also in terms of pensions. It has become difficult to truly get through to people amid the overwhelming amount of information on a subject that has become emotionally charged. And yet, pensions are important for everyone’s future. The actions we take now can affect our situation later on. Together with the pension funds we work for, we constantly look for innovative perspectives to make pensions accessible. We are transforming our annual report on this basis - just like last year-, into a public version ‘Walk with us’. That is why we asked ourselves how we could bring Dutch people, particularly those accruing a pension, closer to their pensions in an accessible, relevant and fun way. All while explaining who we are and what we do for their pensions.

Looking for fresh angles of approach together 

As a pension administrator, APG takes care of the pensions of over 4.5 million people in the Netherlands. We are the largest pension administrator in the Netherlands and as such we play an important role in society. Together with various pension funds and employers, we use all of our knowledge to offer the people who accrue their pensions with them the maximum amount of value for each euro they put towards their pension. The more accessible, personal and relevant we make pensions, the greater the chance of the message getting through. Therefore, together with the pension funds we work for, we're constantly looking for fresh angles of approach to make pensions accessible.

What effect do choices you make now have on your future income? To clarify this, APG developed the module Clear Overview & Insight (Helder Overzicht & Inzicht, HO&I). This gives pension fund members more insight into their future income and expenditure within the personal online pension environment. That way they can see whether they will be to maintain their current lifestyle, and whether there is room for that little bit extra they need. The SPW pension fund for housing corporations had the debut with this module in February. HO&I is now also available to members of the APG Staff Pension Fund (PPF APG). A third pension fund is going live with the module in 2019.

Insight into income and expenditure at expected state retirement age

On 10 December HO&I went live for members of PPF APG. This is the APG pension fund where about 5,300 (former) employees of APG accrue pension or have done so in the past. The new module gives them an insight into their income and expenditure at the expected state retirement age.

All income known to the pension fund has already been entered in the HO&I module. It also contains an estimate of the expected expenditure, including in the areas of housing, healthcare costs and insurance. Any other income for later, such as other pensions, annuities or savings, can easily be added by members themselves. They can also see at the touch of a button what the implications are if they want to retire earlier, or if they want to work more or less. That way, members know whether it is necessary to save or invest extra or whether they need to adjust their spending pattern.

Enthusiasm in the test group

A number of APG employees were introduced to the possibilities during the testing of the new module. This group was very enthusiastic. With the introduction of the module on My PPF APG, an even larger number of APG employees can find out for themselves how this module works. In this way they are not only APG employees but also customers, and from that position they can experience how APG members are able to control their financial future. APG's aim is to increase pension awareness and to be a trusted guide.

The board of PPF APG is also very pleased with HO&I. Employees’ Chairman Alwin Oerlemans: "The first reactions to Clear Overview & Insight show that many members are really interested in seeing what their financial future holds. Directly seeing the implications of your own choices is very valuable."

SPW launches Clear Overview & Insight (‘Helder Overzicht & Inzicht’). Through this service, fund participants can easily gain insight into their financial future. In addition to their pension, other income and expenses will also become accessible in the future, giving participants a comprehensive overview of their income for the future. SPW developed Clear Overview & Insight together with its participants and pension administrator APG.

Straightforward insight into future income

With Clear Overview & Insight, participants can easily include pensions accrued elsewhere as well as equity capital, such as annuity, in their calculation, in addition to their SPW pension.  Participants can also calculate their future income level, at an earlier or later retirement age. In case of a pension gap, Clear Overview & Insight provides the participant with possible solutions, such as additional savings and investments. This action perspective provides participants with a clear tool when talking to their bank or insurance company. The expected effect of extra savings or investments on future income is immediately visible to the participant.

Includes overview future expenses

Expected future expenses will also be made available, based on statistics and research. The participant can easily adjust the estimate at the desired level of detail. Additional refinement of the estimate can be realized using a ‘lifestyle identifier’, allowing the participant to think about how expensive or affordable they want their future lifestyle to be. In order to determine this, we ask questions about housing, vacation and leisure time. By doing this, and combining it with the income side, a comprehensive overview of the participant's financial future is created.

Further development Clear Overview & Insight:

The service will be developed further in the near future, and more features will become available. It will then also become possible to include your partner’s details in the calculations. This way, participants receive a financial overview at family level. APG is also talking to other pension funds about offering Clear Overview & Insight to their participants.

Miranda Blomberg, SPW board president: “Our participants come first. In doing this, we provide our participants with an overview of and insight into their financial future. It helps our participants to make choices, now and in the future.”

Gerard van Olphen, APG Chairman of the Executive Board:  “We want our participants to have a handle on their financial future. By introducing Clear Overview & Insight, we offer participants a smart and simple way to do this, and we also help them make choices. I am proud we have been able to develop this wonderful service together with SPW in the previous months.”

On the last day of the 3-day Pension Event, Secretary of State Klijnsma awarded the 2016 Pension Reference Award to ABP and FinBase. The award presented by Wijzer in Geldzaken (Smarter in Financial Affairs) is an incentive for organizations to give their consumers easier insight into their pension.

Contagious

For this year’s award, there were six nominees in two different categories (up to 30 employees and over 30 employees). The judges, chaired by Secretary of State Klijnsma, selected the advice platform of FinBase with MijnGeldzaken.nl in the first category. In the second category, the judges selected ABP’s pension pop-up store. The judges praised the fact that the pop-up stores enable the employers to review pensions on the work floor together with the participants. She classed it as ‘contagious’.

Low threshold and successful

The Pension Pop-Up Store is an interactive animation stand on pensions and MijnABP to be placed with employers on the work floor for a few days. The first Pension Pop-Up Store was placed with the City of Utrecht in early February 2016. Meanwhile, the initiative is in such high demand that two Pop-Up Stores are now ‘on tour’. Both participants and employers experience it as a low-threshold way of communicating about pensions. ABP developed it because employees often use their employers as the first point of contact for pension-related questions. A Pension Pop-Up Store on the work floor makes it easier to help people in answering questions. Employees can find out more about their pensions in the store. They can also log into MijnABP in the store to review their pension situation. The Pop-Up Store also registers employees for personal appointments with a pension adviser. The Pension Pop-Up Store is part of a broad range of pension communication options that ABP offers, encouraging employers to share on pensioenpluim.nl.

The Dutch Association of Insurers and Pension Federation on the website Pensioenmodellen published the HPO model 2017 and its manual.

Classification based on survey - understanding - action

The models have a thorough makeover. As on Retirement 1-2-3 is now the UPS uses icons. In addition, the models become more concise and it is with the new classification based on providing "Overview - understanding - action. The lyrics are pretty shape: the state performers free to adapt it better and to connect to the information needs and characteristics of the participants. New is the model for pensioners. Unlike before, there are no disclosures made in the models. The manual find pension administrators detailed information about how the models are required.

Layered communications

The pension umbrella have with the new UPS models' layered communication "in mind, as with Retirement 1-2-3. Layer 1 is a trigger to the participant to read the UPO. This layer is set form, for example, a letter in a colored envelope or an e-mail. Layer 2 is the UPO itself. There are several links to in-depth information, for example Mijnpensioenoverzicht.nl and Retirement 1-2-3. The information behind these links can be seen as a layer 3.

As for inspection in connection with many changes

The models are present for approval to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment. Possibly followed by another (small) changes in response to the reaction of Social Affairs. Because of the many changes to the format and the required implementation time choose the pension umbrella sure to set already now available models to their members.

Read more on the website Pensioenmodellen.

Growing numbers of participants in pension funds associated with APG are using the ‘MijnFonds’ personal digital pensions environment.

To date, some 650,000 participants have checked their pension status through this service. With MijnFonds, a participant can easily see how much pension he has accumulated or receives. The service was launched in 2015 and is available to increasing numbers of participants in pension funds associated with APG. MijnFonds is also suitable for use on a smartphone or tablet.

Insight into the personal pension status, anywhere and anytime.

Alongside a summary of the accumulated pension, it is also possible for participants to view any partner’s or surviving dependent’s pension. Depending on the pension fund, there is also the online ability to calculate the effect of advancing, postponing or varying the extent of a pension.

MijnFonds users can also modify personal details simply and directly. Security and privacy is also guaranteed because the system uses DigiD.

Pension mail increasingly digital

Growing numbers of participants are indicating in MijnFonds that they wish to receive mail about their pensions either partially or fully digitally. This means that not only does MijnFonds offer participants more convenience, but it also reduces paper consumption and leads to lower implementation costs.

Growing functionality in MijnFonds

Raoul Willms, Director of Marketing, Communications & Distribution with APG: “Participants are telling us that MijnFonds offers them a quick insight into their personal pension status. This gives them clarity and peace of mind. We will be adding even more features in the near future, making the service even more relevant and personal. For instance, we have just launched webchat, to answer pensions questions directly online. Participants are reacting enthusiastically to this new service.”

Changes in laws and regulations have a direct impact on collective and individual level.

We would like to also relieve employers in this area. For this specialized communication we therefore advice and execution to measure. Matching the sector and the company culture so that employers inform their employees are always on the right and familiar manner. 

More personal communication, the better it arrives. APG matches the information therefore always on the personal situation of the recipient. Through our years of experience in the field of pensions, redundancy payments and re-integration we are able to give us good to live in. And we know what specific approach to suit different audiences and topics. We develop a finely tuned and balanced mix of communication for your label, based on your communication strategy. Our experienced communication specialists, both strategically and creatively educated and have knowledge of offline and online communication.