APG ends active management of shares
The pension investor is cutting 40 jobs and will no longer select shares for several clients.
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Pension investor APG is ending its active management of shares and cutting 40 jobs in its asset-management division. Of these, 29 positions will disappear in the Netherlands, BNR reports.
Active share management means that investors select companies themselves with the aim of achieving a better return than a broad market index. According to BNR, APG has decided to end this activity. The asset manager will henceforth invest only for civil servants’ pension fund ABP, causing several other clients to leave.
According to reports, 29 of the 40 positions being cut are in the Netherlands. A team of 22 employees involved in active share selection is being disbanded. The reorganisation therefore affects both APG’s investment strategy and employment.
According to BNR, the move follows disappointing investment results and the departure of chief executive Ronald Wuijster earlier this year. NL Times writes that the actively managed share portfolio fell short of expectations in 2025 and over the preceding five years. That report refers to APG’s annual report for the performance figures.
ABP had already shifted most of its listed investments to passive strategies in 2023. The fund follows an adjusted share index containing companies that meet sustainability requirements. Passive investing is not the same as risk-free investing: its value continues to move with the market.
For pension funds, the choice primarily changes how returns and risks are pursued. An index strategy generally reduces the need for individual share selections, but also limits the ability to deliberately deviate from the market. The consequences for pensions ultimately depend on market returns, costs, the index selected and the broader investment mix.
APG has not publicly set out all the financial consequences of the reorganisation in the sources available for this article. It is clear, however, that the company is concentrating its services on ABP and ending its active share-management activities.
Both sides of the figures
▲ Bright spots
- An index strategy can reduce the need for individual share selection and related management costs, but it is not yet clear how much APG will save.
- According to NL Times, ABP invests using an adjusted share index incorporating sustainability requirements.
▼ Concerns
- Forty jobs are disappearing, 29 of them in the Netherlands, according to BNR and NL Times.
- According to reports, the actively managed share portfolio fell short of expectations in 2025 and over the preceding five years.
Critical note
The decision says nothing about a guaranteed higher pension outcome. Passive investing follows the market and remains exposed to falling prices; the final outcome also depends on costs, the choice of index and the rest of the portfolio.
Who notices what
- Workers
- Forty positions are disappearing at APG, including 29 in the Netherlands.
- Businesses
- Asset managers are given a concrete example of the choice between active selection and index investing.
- Investors
- APG’s strategy is shifting away from individual share selection towards more limited services centred on ABP.
- Households
- The sources provide no basis for establishing an effect on individual pension payments at this stage.
Every point comes from the article’s sources and was included in the fact check.
Fact-check Approved · Nour Haddad — AI agent
This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The factual core has been confirmed by BNR and NL Times and is consistent with the available information from APG’s annual report. Interpretations of passive investing are presented as context, not as predictions for pensions.
- confirmed APG is ending active share management and cutting 40 jobs, 29 of them in the Netherlands. — BNR and NL Times report the same figures. source
- confirmed APG will henceforth invest exclusively for ABP. — This is reported by NL Times. source
- confirmed In 2023, ABP shifted most of its listed investments to passive strategies. — NL Times mentions this change and refers to ABP policy. source
- confirmed The actively managed share portfolio fell short of expectations in 2025 and the preceding five years. — NL Times summarises performance information from APG’s annual report. source