Foreword from Lisa Brüggen, General Director of Netspar

You became the general director of Netspar in 2023. What are your thoughts on this past year?
“It was nice to take the helm during a year in which communication was a top priority within the Netspar organization. We took the initial steps toward creating a redesigned website, a clear visual identity, and a CRM system. This will eventually bring all the valuable knowledge developed within our network more easily within reach of our partners. After all, knowledge only truly has value when it is readily accessible. In concrete terms, this means ensuring that the right knowledge reaches the right person at the right time.

The need for knowledge about pensions was abundantly apparent in 2023, which was a tumultuous year in the pension field with the adoption by the Dutch Senate of the Future Pensions Act. While this was a major milestone for the pension industry, it did not eliminate the knowledge needs of our partners. A great many concrete questions remain to be researched, including delving into the details of the new pension contracts and the issues surrounding the transition. We are also seeing an evolution in the nature of the issues, for example on topics such as the labor market, socially responsible investing, and communication and choice guidance.

My first week as general director was very symbolic. That was the week we said good-bye to Lans Bovenberg, who founded Netspar together with Theo Nijman. Later in the year, Theo announced that he, too, will be leaving Netspar, in September 2024 when he reaches retirement age. This means that the first phase of the organization, that of the founders, is slowly coming to an end. I am now faced with the great responsibility of keeping the knowledge network’s further development on the right track.”

How did the start of the 2023−2027 Action Plan go?
“We have embarked vigorously on the new action plan, for example, in the area of knowledge development. As part of that, in 2023, we awarded the first four new theme grants, which start with a higher funding amount of €350,000 per ongoing research project and are for a period of three years. This is our way of investing in sufficient capacity in terms of senior researchers, helping us ensure that they will be able to keep working through the coming years on the broad, complex issues we are facing.

We have embarked vigorously on the new action plan.

We also realized our ambitions in the area of knowledge sharing, such as instituting a new formula for the annual Pensions & Science Conference. There was a kickoff at the conference for the new knowledge groups, which are individual platforms for catching up on all the Netspar research in a given theme and brainstorming about new research questions. With over one hundred attendees, the conference was a resounding success, and the knowledge groups will be brought back again in the future.

Meanwhile, we supported the partners with a wide range of other activities, as well. One of the things we did for the pension fund SPMS, for example, was to organize a seminar on the Future Pensions Act. Moreover, through its partnership, the pension fund also enlisted speakers from Netspar to attend a meeting with the accountability council. We provided scientific knowledge to a broader audience, as well. For instance, I was the keynote speaker at an International Women’s Day event, where I spoke to 150 women about important decision-making points in a woman’s life.”

What are your hopes and expectations for 2024?
“In 2024, we will continue working hard on what we do well as a knowledge network. This includes, of course, knowledge development, knowledge sharing, and network development, along with acting as an honest broker in the pension debate. As part of that, I hope that the partners will soon be able to find their way more readily to the vast quantity of valuable knowledge already available. The improved search function on our redesigned website should help. We are also looking into additional ways of sharing scientific knowledge with our partners in an accessible manner.

Finally, the research themes will be evolving. For example, we have been conducting research on choice guidance for quite some time, but you now see AI starting to play a greater role within that theme. This will eventually be reflected, as well, in the ongoing research and events. At any rate, we will continue to help our partners remain in the loop about major developments, on everything from the Future Pensions Act to social and technological trends that are impacting pensions and retirement and the pension industry as a whole.”