Your customer’s investment choices at BeFrank

Accruing a pension at BeFrank: it’s simple and personal. Your customer makes the main decisions about their pension scheme. After that, the employees decide whether those choices match their situation. We have listed their investment choices below.

We invest pension contributions through the lifecycle method. That means we take their age into account. As employees get older, we reduce the investment risk.

Form of investment

Within the lifecycles, your customer decides how we invest the pension contributions. There is a choice between three forms of investment: 

1. Passive investments

We will mainly invest pension contributions in funds that aim to follow the market as closely as possible (index trackers). These funds follow the stock market development as closely as possible without deviating from the market. The only exceptions are deliberate exclusions in the context of responsible investment.

2. Active investments

In this form of investment, invest pension capital in funds that are actively managed with the aim of outperforming the market. Appointed asset managers respond to market developments. In doing so, they try to get better returns in the long run. 

3. Sustainable investing

This lifecycle consists of funds from Triodos. We have selected these funds based on sustainability. We invest exclusively in companies, governments and organisations that have demonstrated their positive impact on the world. In so doing, we also try to achieve good long-term investment returns.

If an employee prefers a different form of investment, they can change it through their personal pension page in a few simple steps. 

Good to know: we invest as sustainably as possible in all three lifecycles. Want to find out more? Discover which sustainable choices we make throughout each lifecycle.

Investment risk

The employer sets the standard risk profile. At BeFrank, you can choose from three different risk profiles: neutral, defensive and offensive. 

Employees can adjust their level of investment risk if they wish. They can also choose between very defensive and very offensive risk profiles. On their personal pension page, they answer a number of questions. Based on their answers, a recommended risk profile is generated. We always recommend that employees select the level of investment risk that aligns with that risk profile. 

Do It Yourself investing

Does your employee prefer to opt for Do It Yourself investing? At BeFrank, that’s not a problem. However, your customer does need to allow this and the employee needs to be able to demonstrate their understanding of the investment world. For that reason, they have to take a knowledge test first. In addition, their risk profile needs to show that they are willing to take risks.

If they want to opt for DIY investing, employees can choose from several investment funds. They can choose from fund houses such as Blackrock, Schroders and Northern Trust, for example.