Pensioenfonds Zorg & Welzijn (PFZW)

Pensioenfonds Zorg & Welzijn (PFZW)

PFZW traces its roots to 1969, formed to serve the Dutch healthcare and social work sectors. Chair Joanne Kellermann, a former executive board member of De Nederlandsche Bank, leads the fund alongside Investment Committee chair Dirk Schoenmaker and asset management policy lead Jan Willem Van Oostveen. The fund represents pension assets for over 3.2 million active and retired participants in the care and welfare system — making it one of Europe's largest institutional allocators. The fund's assets are managed exclusively by PGGM, a cooperative asset manager based in Zeist, with Piet Klop overseeing its responsible investment mandate. PFZW's strategy spans private equity buyouts, real estate across the Netherlands, insurance-linked securities globally, and a dedicated residential mortgage portfolio through Attens Hypotheken. Confirmed platform positions include Amvest Vastgoed B.V. for mixed-use property and a.s.r. Real Estate non-listed funds. The fund targets co-investments and direct stakes across Europe and North America, with growing exposure to Asia-Pacific infrastructure. PFZW banned new fossil-fuel extraction investments entirely by February 2024, extending a years-long exclusion policy on thermal coal and tar sands. PFZW staffs its governance and oversight functions directly while PGGM executes day-to-day management for the entire portfolio. The fund participates in climate-focused investor networks including Climate Action 100+, the Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance, and the Paris Aligned Asset Owners Initiative. PFZW also engages with European pension advocacy group PensionsEurope on regulatory matters. Philanthropic work flows separately through Aflatoun International, a social and financial education charity. In 2023, the fund publicly debated and adopted its strictest fossil-fuel exclusion framework to date, phasing out all upstream and midstream oil and gas holdings by early 2024. PFZW operates a fully delegated investment model through PGGM, a structure rare among top-20 European pension funds. The delegation gives PFZW permanent staff focus purely on governance, policy-setting, and beneficiary alignment — rather than building an in-house asset management division. This architecture creates a distinct dual-layer accountability: PGGM absorbs performance and execution risk, while PFZW's board retains strategic control, particularly over the ESG roadmap that now bans nearly all hydrocarbon-linked direct investments.