In an interview in Het Financieele Dagblad is Gerard Olphen inter alia, the low interest rates, changes in the pension system and its goals at APG.
Gerard van Olphen: "Pension funds can not blame the European Central Bank of their problems. The interest rate would be low without the incentive of the ECB, which is disastrous for pension funds. Because the workforce is shrinking and economic growth is low in Europe, the rate is structurally low. ECB policy obviously does not help, but is not decisive. "
As regards the future pension Gerard notes the following: "I'm not there. Just like football Netherlands has 15 million in pensions coaches. However, it is up to the pension, social partners and politicians to decide how the system should look like. "
About what he wants to achieve with APG, he says: "Broadly three things we need to it on a daily basis, participants can follow their pensions. In addition, the asset must be adapted to the situation and requirements of the times. The last thirty years have achieved positive investment results despite the crisis, but the question is whether we can continue to do the same. I expect that we should invest directly in the economy, for example in infrastructure, to continue to get the same returns in a responsible manner. Finally APG up the capacity to change, in order to go along with the changes that await us. "
Read the full interview here (in Dutch).