Now that several clients have switched to the renewed pension system, APG has gained quite a bit of experience with transition communication. What lessons have been learned from this? We asked communication advisors Ron Starmans and Marie-José ten Brink.
For every life event that a participant goes through – for example, 'retirement' or 'divorce' – APG has defined a so-called customer journey. Communication is an important part of this. Ten Brink and Starmans work within a team that deals with customer journeys.
Ten Brink: "Within the Customer Journey Team, we are mainly responsible for 'dual' transition communication with participants. What are the rules of the current pension system and how do you give a glimpse of the new system? This communication takes place through all kinds of channels and means, such as process letters, the website and the ‘MijnOmgeving’ (the personal environment where participants can log in to their pension fund, ed.). But it can also be a campaign, or cooperation with a Pension Newspaper. We always look at all those channels and resources from the point of view of the customer journeys."
Starmans: "In a customer journey such as 'retiring', a participant receives various forms of communication. We adjust the communication based on what happens in the transition to the renewed system. In doing so, we try to make it as clear as possible to that participant what will change for him or her and which choices will be influenced by the transition to the new rules."
High impact decision moments
Starmans and Ten Brink were previously involved in the transition communication for PWRI and PPF APG, the first two clients to switch to the renewed system, early 2025. After that, they worked for the three funds that were transferred in 2026.
The lessons they have learned from those first experiences with transitional communication are mainly related to timing and dosage. Starmans: "It is very important that you start informing participants in time. Choices someone makes now can have influence when the transition takes place. For example, if you retire this year, this will have consequences for the compensation you may or may not receive when you switch to the new system. We have called these high impact decision moments. We try to inform participants about these kinds of choices at an early stage, so that they are at least aware of things that may have been going on earlier but affect the pension after the transition. So that they also have plenty of time to do something with it."
Ten Brink: "And it is important that you take participants by the hand, that you give them step-by-step information that is relevant to them at that moment. You start with generic information about the renewed pension system. But from the moment the Future of Pensions Act came into force – 1 July 2023 – and the date on which the transition takes place, you will provide increasingly specific and personal information, so that a participant knows what it means for him or her. The information must be clear, timely, balanced and consistent across all channels. But you also have to watch out for overkill. So you have to dose well and tailor information to the right target group. For the participant, only one thing is important: what does it mean to me?"
Communicating about uncertainty
The closer the transition date approaches, the more specific the information becomes for the participant. Nevertheless, a fund cannot avoid a certain degree of uncertainty in communication. Starmans: "We can only give an estimate in advance about the pension amount in the new system, based on the provisional transition overview. Between the period in which the provisional transition overviews are sent and the transition moment in January, anything can happen that changes the pension amount. Because there are several factors that can still influence that amount. You have to make participants aware of that."
The knowledge file plays an important role in the provision of information to participants. Ten Brink: "The knowledge file is on the website and is a source of information to which we refer from many resources. A participant can find more information there about what is known at that moment for the specific situation in which he or she finds himself. For example, what will change in the rules for the survivor's pension for someone who is incapacitated for work or who wants to retire.
Tough deadlines
With two years of transition communication experience under their belt, there are also things that the APG communication advisors would deal with differently now. Starmans: "At one point we communicated about the availability of the ‘MijnOmgeving’, when you could do something in it and when you couldn't. However, that timing was outdated every time, so we had to keep coming back to it. In hindsight, it would have been better to mention a somewhat longer period in which something was not possible, so that in the end it would not be so bad – provided that a pension fund also supports it, of course."
Ten Brink: "And because of the rock-hard deadlines of the new system, you sometimes have to settle for a seven, because otherwise you won't make any progress. Of course you want to do as well as possible, but if you can turn that seven into a nine at a later stage, that's sometimes better."
To maximize the chance that all messages will also reach the participant, various measurements will be taken. Ten Brink: "Based on this, we can adjust our communication, if the results and analyses give cause to do so." Starmans: "In addition, we have now also set up a separate test street for new communication. When we have to make a completely new letter for a certain target group, we first have it assessed by a panel of a hundred participants."
Employers
One of the results that emerge from the customer satisfaction surveys is that participants experience it as complex when a lot of information about the renewed pension system is added to a letter, says Starmans. "But they also indicate that they are happy if the pension fund informs them about this in good time. So it's a bit ambiguous. Of course, we try to put everything as clearly as possible in a letter. But some information we simply have to include by law."
Employers also play an essential role in reaching participants, Ten Brink emphasizes. "They are a really important source of information, because participants often consult their employer about pension matters. We therefore always try to inform employers before we approach the participants. Employers receive a regular newsletter and we offer them relevant content and tools so that they can use it in their organization. In addition, we refer employers in several places to the same knowledge file to which participants have access."
Transition communication is by no means just 'a thing of the communication department'. Ten Brink: "It really affects every part of our organization." Starmans: "Of course, many more people from the pension administration are involved in this, from the ‘MijnOmgeving’, from the process letters and the campaigns, and the product owners. Marie-José and I try to make a good translation from the legal communication plan to the process communication."