"The landscape for investors is really changing." That is what APG's Thijs Knaap says in the program Zakendoen on BNR Nieuwsradio in a conversation about the policy options of central banks. "We are now in a situation where you have to deal with scarcity: raw materials such as oil are scarce, labour and also capital. And that's where the central banks come in. There was always plenty of money, but if the central banks start tightening, money becomes scarcer and governments have to pay for bonds. These can then become a serious alternative to other investments."
Knaap, chief economist at APG, regularly joins the Zakendoen investor panel. In today's broadcast, he also discusses the consequences of rising interest rates for pension funds. "It's bittersweet. The rising interest rate is good for the funding ratio of the funds, but at the same time, as a pension administrator, we also have a lot in the portfolio that becomes worth less. But if you look ahead, higher interest rates just mean you can earn more in the financial markets, so I'll look at that. It is also a better time to be an investor than it was a few years ago," says Knaap in conversation with presenter Thomas van Zijl and panel member Simon van Veen.