Joanne Kellermann: Let money be a force for good

May 28, 2025

'When I started working as a lawyer in the early 1980s, my boss was a lawyer for both ABN AMRO, then still called ABN, and the Securities Exchange Association, which at the time managed the Amsterdam stock exchange. These were iconic institutions. The financial sector intrigued me. I never left.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the financial world, which until then had mainly been a servant and supporter, increasingly came to the fore, eventually taking a leading role on the world stage. At least initially. The big turning point was the financial crisis in 2008. In the period that followed, the sector's focus changed. Whereas the focus had previously been entirely on financial risk and return, after 2008 it also shifted to social risk and return. That shift inspired me enormously in my work. I was keen to get started.

As a pension fund, we have naturally incorporated sustainability into our investment policy and started thinking in terms of long-term value creation. This fits in well with the pension sector, where the focus has always been on the long term and how we can add value. This dual function of safeguarding pensions appeals to me and makes me feel very privileged to be able to work here. On the one hand, it is our job to organise good pensions, in my case for people in the healthcare and welfare sector. We take care of this for them, so that they can look forward to their retirement with peace of mind. On the other hand, there is the question of how we can put the contributions these people have paid in to work for them through long-term investments. We want to do this in such a way that, in addition to financial value, we also add social capital by contributing to issues such as the energy transition and the Paris climate targets through our investments. Or, closer to home, to housing, where people from the care and welfare sector are given priority. But also to innovations that encourage people to stay in work longer. In this way, the pension contributions of our participants are working to contribute to the sector itself. I see this kind of long-term value creation as the core of the work of pension funds.

My time at De Nederlandsche Bank was a very formative period, which also saw the outbreak of the major financial crisis. This caused a huge shockwave, including in the pension sector. It led to a lot of additional regulation. Regulation is still an important theme in my work today. In fact, I am convinced that regulation is here to stay. As financial institutions, we should not want to comply with rules for the sake of the regulator, but for ourselves. Rules are indispensable if we want to achieve what we are here on earth to do in a proper and responsible manner. I also see that people have become very cautious about issuing additional regulations on top of the existing rules and carefully consider when they are really necessary. This is a positive development.

 

As financial institutions, we should not want to comply with rules for the sake of the regulator, but for ourselves.

 

At DNB, we repeatedly measured confidence in the financial sector after the crisis. It had taken a huge hit. Remarkably, confidence in banks and insurers recovered sooner than confidence in pension funds. This turned out to be because people had no idea how pension funds actually work. For example, pension fund investments were one big black box for the public. DNB advised pension funds that, in order to regain trust, they had to make it clear that their investments were doing something good for their participants. It is important for pension funds to show that they are genuine long-term thinkers and that, in addition to achieving a good financial return, they are also trying to contribute to a liveable world with the money they have invested. This way of thinking took off after the financial crisis. At the time, I was rightly criticised for this. People thought it was inappropriate for DNB to interfere in this matter. Now it is common practice, and I am convinced that this has helped pension funds to reconnect with their participants, thereby closing the trust gap. Looking back, the outbreak of the financial crisis was the most defining and challenging moment in my career. As a member of DNB's Executive Board, I had a front-row seat, so to speak.

Even now, we occasionally experience very turbulent times on the financial markets, but back then, no one had ever seen anything like it. It was frightening. Afterwards, it became clear that the crisis was not caused by financial malpractice. The cause lay in people's behaviour and in cultures within organisations. Major players had started taking irresponsible risks in order to earn more and more money, fuelled by incentives. This has led to the realisation that it matters how we behave, how people behave in organisations, and what culture prevails there. That we cannot separate our work from what we teach our children at home about what is fair, reliable and good.

These worlds are inextricably linked. Before the big crisis, the idea was apparently that different rules applied on Wall Street. That is not true. We have all learned that hard lesson. At PFZW, we notice that our participants are far removed from pension technology, but at the same time feel that they do not need to know anything about it.

“You take care of that for us,” is their starting point. “And you do it well,” we hear time and time again. So although people know little about it and want to know little about it, there is a high level of trust. Nevertheless, I think it is important to keep trying to raise people's financial awareness. This is particularly relevant for our participants, more than 80% of whom are women. Our strategy to raise their financial awareness is based as much as possible on scientific research. This shows that information and education alone are not enough. We also need to give people small nudges in the right direction at the right moments. When participants reach a certain age, we therefore remind them that it is important to start thinking about their pension. We use what are known as micro-interventions. These only have a real effect at that moment. To draw more attention to the upcoming transition to the new pension scheme, we have launched the “Heb je even voor jou?” (Do you have a moment?) campaign for all active participants, mainly through employers. The title refers to the fact that people in the care sector often tend to put others first. Another example: because we know that many of our participants read Libelle magazine, I recently gave an interview to that magazine.

 

I think it's important to keep trying to raise people's financial awareness.

 

Raising financial awareness – or financial empowerment – also plays a major role in my work for Aflatoun International. This very large NGO with 350 partner organisations aims to teach children aged 4 to 24 around the world about financial awareness. The teaching methods are not just about arithmetic. Aflatoun also wants to give children the social skills they need to focus on their future, take control of their lives and realise that money can facilitate many good things. For example, you can use it to start a small business.

Making money a force for good also plays a role in my work at the Dutch Water Authority Bank, where I am chair of the Supervisory Board.

Money as a driving force for improvement is, in fact, the underlying theme in everything I do professionally. It's about getting the flows going in the right direction so that people can have a better life.

At PFZW, we are currently focusing on the pension gap: the fact that women in the Netherlands receive on average 40% less pension than men. We are also looking for ways to address this issue.

Closing the pension gap has long been thought of as too easy.

Most women in healthcare work part-time. Why can't they work a little more? I now see that there are systemic and institutional reasons for this. I'll mention a few. One in five women in healthcare provides more than eight hours of informal care per week. This leaves less time for paid work. Women also often receive lower salaries than men for the same work.

Pensions are linked to working hours and salary. As a result, women's pension accrual is lower. We therefore need to look for other solutions to bridge the pension gap. Although I haven't mentioned it yet, the pension transition we are currently in is at the top of my list of pension priorities. It dominates my thinking.

I look forward to the time when it will be business as usual again. This process is challenging and takes a lot of time and energy. At the same time, that is normal. I think we are making good progress towards the target transition date of 1 January 2026.

 

The financial crisis has brought home the realisation that it matters how we behave, how people behave in organisations, and what culture prevails there.

 

I believe that as a human being, I have a duty to leave the world a little better than I found it, wherever I can. I have tried to use the talents I have been given and the tools at my disposal to do so. That doesn't feel like a burden. On the contrary, I enjoy what I do. It also gives me satisfaction.

When I look back on my career and what I have achieved, I don't see the big projects and transactions first and foremost. I see people whose potential I spotted and to whom I was able to give a chance. People who have proven to be talented and successful. They will soon be able to take over the baton and become the next generation of leaders. I think that's wonderful to see.
 

Joanne Kellermann Joanne Kellermann studied civil law and worked as a lawyer at NautaDutilh from 1984 to 2005, where she became a partner in 1992. From 2005 to 2014, she worked at De Nederlandsche Bank, becoming an executive director in 2007. She then held various administrative and supervisory positions at organisations in the Netherlands and abroad. Since 2019, Kellermann has been the chair of the board of Pensioenfonds Zorg en Welzijn (PFZW). She is also chair of the Supervisory Board of the Dutch Water Authority Bank and chair of the NGO Aflatoun International.

Attachments

• FI-3 - 2025 - Joanne Kellermann.pdf