The Accountability Council (AC) has the authority to evaluate the Board’s performance, policy decisions, and policy implementation. A positive evaluation depends on whether interests were considered equally. The Council is made up of six members.

Composition

Summary evaluation

The AC’s assessment is positive. Important elements that determine that assessment are:

• The Board has been proactive in taking initiatives to prepare for the introduction of the Future Pensions Act (Wtp). It does, however, depend on decision-making by the social partners.
• Governance is in good shape, partly because of a policy on succession planning. Vacancies that arise are filled in an efficient way. The key functions are arranged effectively and perform well. A Confidential Counsellor has also been appointed. 
• Further steps were also taken regarding ESG. After the Board adopted the sustainability policy in 2021, a start was made with implementing control measures.
• The Board responded effectively to the DSM proposal to review all pension activities and organize these differently. The Board developed an alternative plan to address the risk that DSM Pension Services would not have been available to implement the regulation. 
• The increasing importance of information technology in the pension scheme administration led to the Board decision to appoint a Board member in the role of IT coordinator. The appointment of this IT coordinator ensures that the Board is even better placed to fulfil its managerial responsibilities in terms of IT policy and IT security.

The Accountability Council’s spearheads for 2023

The AC formulated the following priorities for the coming year:

The Future Pensions Act
The AC aims to keep a careful watch over all relevant aspects of the Future Pensions Act, especially as the AC is expected to be asked to give its opinion on the balance of the chosen interpretation by end 2023. The developments relating to DPS and administration continuity play a role in this.

The IT Policy
Concrete adaptations, as stated in the IT Strategy, are being introduced that result in further administrative ‘control’ and the effectiveness of the chosen methods. The AC also considers the data quality project results to be vital and that the possible necessary improvement steps must be well prepared in transitioning to the new pension contract. 

Socially Responsible Investing
The AC will assess the extent to which SPF maintains its own course and its connection with developments at the employer, SABIC. Another important focus point is the impact of the policy: To what extent can any additional costs of the Socially Responsible Investing policy be justified? 

Balanced Decisions
A further priority is how balanced management decisions are justified. To assess the balance of transition plans, the AC will draw up criteria and will ensure timely coordination with the Board so that these can be taken into account at the decision-making stage.

The AC will also schedule topics according to the annual agenda, and the Executive Board will be asked to address these in the periodic consultation. The complete evaluation by the Accountability Council and the SPF Board’s response to the evaluation can be read in the SPF annual report (PDF in Dutch only).