Dutch pension insurers are generating transition overviews that adhere to all legal requirements while leaving participants perplexed about their retirement income, according to insights from WealthTech firm Kidbrooke.
The company recently explored challenges related to transition communication. The key issue is not a matter of accuracy; rather, the figures are accurate, the formatting meets compliance standards, and the documents are distributed punctually. However, the Autoriteit Financiële Markten (AFM) has increasingly emphasized since late 2023 that compliance and effective communication are distinctly different.
Many participants find themselves in a situation where, for instance, a woman who dedicated 15 years to a middelloon defined benefit scheme evaluates her transition overview. She sees two columns: one reflecting her previous arrangement and the other detailing what she will receive under the new defined contribution (DC) scheme.
In an optimistic scenario, the DC amount appears more favorable, leading her to believe the new scheme is beneficial. She subsequently files the document without realizing that the optimistic view is not the most probable outcome, or that the range between best-case and worst-case scenarios is significantly broad for individuals at her age.
This issue is particularly notable for insurers. According to the Transitiemonitor Summer Report 2025, 93% of insurer contracts remained unconverted, affecting approximately 57,000 contracts and 1.5 million active participants. Most of these contracts featured guaranteed DB or middelloon arrangements, resulting in many participants encountering variable DC outcomes, investment options, and scenario ranges for the first time through the transition overview itself. The AFM’s Sector in Beeld 2025 report indicated that without appropriate context, the substantial variation in scenario figures could lead to the unrealistic expectations the sector aimed to avoid.
The AFM has clearly articulated what true personalization entails. In its January 2025 report, it pointed out that providers often employed the same explanatory text for all participants, rather than using individualized conditional text relevant to each person. For example, a 30-year-old should not receive identical information as someone over 50. This issue is not merely about copywriting; it involves data and computational accuracy. Improved templates alone cannot resolve this, due to differing variables for each individual.
The transition overview and the keuzebegeleiding environment serve two separate purposes. The overview provides statutory, point-in-time disclosures, while the choice environment functions as an interactive tool that elucidates the significance of these changes and the options available. Insurers treating the overview as their primary communication method, while viewing the choice environment as a mere compliance requirement, are attempting to fulfill two disparate roles with a single instrument, which proves ineffective.
With an extensive scope of 57,000 contracts and 1.5 million participants, true personalization necessitates an automated analytics framework. KidbrookeOne offers APIs for forecasting and scenario simulations, enabling insurers to create participant-specific comparisons and develop the interactive keuzebegeleiding environments mandated by the AFM, all without overhauling their existing technology infrastructure.