Annual report 2025

A good pension in a liveable world, now and in the future

PME is the pension fund for people working in the metal and technology industry. This sector plays a key role in many major transitions. From energy and climate to digital technology and healthcare, and increasingly also in the field of safety and resilience.

People in the metal and technology industry work every day on concrete solutions for tomorrow. They develop smart, clean and valuable innovations. Driven by that same ambition, we as a pension fund want to provide them with a good pension.

A good pension starts with achieving solid financial returns. But a pension only has value in a liveable world. That is why, in our investments, we do not only look  at returns but also at the impact on people and the environment. Like this, we shape the future together.

Our financial results in 2025

• The current funding ratio was 125.3% at the end of 2025. 
• The policy funding ratio was 120.1%. 
• The investment return for 2025 was -3.0%. 
• The excess return compared with the investment objective was 9.92%. 
• We increased pensions by 2.82%, thereby maintaining their purchasing power.

Total asset management costs (including transaction costs) rose to 0.414% of average invested assets (2024: 0.397%). Pension administration costs per participant increased from €115 to €178. This increase is mainly due to temporary additional investments in preparation for the transition to the new pension scheme in 2027. 

Towards a new pension scheme

In 2025, we reached an important milestone in the preparations for the new pension scheme. In mid 2025, we formally accepted and confirmed the assignment from the social partners. We also submitted our implementation and communication plan to the supervisory authorities.

Prior to the submission, we made use of the option of a partial assessment by the Dutch Central Bank (DNB), including assessments of risk appetite, financial design and data quality. We successfully completed these.

After the submission, the DNB started a full assessment process of our transition documents. This process is intensive and requires significant effort from both the DNB and PME. The careful exchange of questions and explanations contributes to the quality and transparency of our choices.

In all our preparations, one question is central: can we achieve a balanced and careful transition to a new pension system in which participants can rely on a good, personal, sustainable and affordable pension? 

Investing with financial and social returns

We aim to achieve our financial objectives in a way that contributes to a liveable world. In our climate plan, we set clear targets to reduce the CO₂ emissions of our investment portfolio.

By the end of 2025, CO₂ emissions were:

• 76.5% lower in the equity portfolio compared with 2019;
• 49.5% lower in the corporate bond portfolio compared with 2019;
• 26.1% lower in the real estate portfolio compared with 2020.

With impact investing, the objective is to generate a positive and measurable contribution to themes such as climate, nature, innovation, housing and healthcare, alongside a financial return.

At the end of 2025, PME had €3.1 billion invested in impact investments.

Engaging with our stakeholders

Our participants, pension beneficiaries and employers are our main priority. We aim to be accessible, approachable and actively engage in dialogue. This helps us gain a clear understanding of questions, concerns and needs.

We do this through personal contact via our consultants, employer visits and meetings across the country. In addition, we make use of research and data analysis to further improve our services.

In 2025, (former) participants and pension beneficiaries gave us an average satisfaction score of 7.3. They rated their trust in the fund at 7.5.