Funda van Riel-Bor: Dynamism is part of who I am

August 7, 2025

After completing my higher professional education, I worked for seven months in the Finance department of the Daimler Group in Madrid. Inspired by the workings of the financial markets, I then started my Master's degree in Financial Management. Believe me, I would have loved to have lived and worked in the days when stock trading still took place physically on the trading floor. That dynamic was fantastic! The best days, or rather nights, of my career so far were the first few hours after Donald Trump's first election and the night the British voted on Brexit. I was working as a Product Manager FX at ABN AMRO Clearing Bank at the time and stayed at the office, full of adrenaline, waiting for the stock markets to react. Currency trading, which was my field at the time, always reacts immediately to sensational news.

More or less by chance, I ended up at PGGM Investments some time later, where I came into contact with the world of pensions. During a training course during the coronavirus pandemic, a young fellow student told me that she was training to become a pension fund manager and was participating in the Pensioenlab programme. I was astonished. In my mind, pension fund managers were much older people, mostly men. But my interest was piqued and I also enrolled in the Pensioenlab programme. That has brought me to where I am today: in a management position at BPL Pensioen. Together with my work at APG Asset Management, it's a great combination.

I really enjoy the wide variety of work in the pension sector. I am constantly in dialogue with different stakeholders. It is also very exciting that the pension sector is on the eve of the biggest change in its history. I want to help ensure that we get through this successfully. It is vitally important for our participants.

This sector really matters. Pensions make up a large part of participants' income for later in life. Before joining BPL Pensioen, I completed internships at Pensioenfonds Horeca en Catering and Pensioenfonds Kappers. I really want all those hard-working participants to have their pensions properly arranged. I want them to be able to continue enjoying their lives when they stop working. In a liveable world.

As pension fund directors, we are responsible for managing pensions properly, in such a way that this contributes to the liveability of the world in which people will spend their retirement money. I find the search for that balance fascinating. Expect the unexpected. In addition to what we can foresee and prepare for, there may be things on the horizon that we do not yet know what they will look like.

Nevertheless, we must also take these into account. Change is a permanent feature of the financial sector, and changes are happening at an ever-increasing pace. We must therefore be extremely flexible, have our resilience in order and be able to act and adapt quickly. AI has been around for years, but is currently undergoing rapid development that affects us all. Another major development is that we now work with enormous amounts of digital data. We are seeing more and more cyber attacks. This underlines the immense importance of cyber security. The sustainability of society and the many new laws and regulations that result from this are also major developments that our sector has to deal with. And let's not forget the transition to the new pension rules. We need to give all these topics sufficient attention and address them properly.

The themes in my work are naturally related to the developments we have been discussing: IT, the DORA legislation, cybersecurity, sustainability. And communication. Good communication has always been important, but now even more so: as pension funds, we need to be able to explain everything about the transition to the new pension rules to our participants. But participants are not all the same, of course. We cannot reach them all with the same words and the same means of communication. At BPL Pensioen, we are aware of this. For a current campaign, we have used Instagram as a means of communication to reach our younger participants. We hope that this will enable us to effectively involve them in the changes that are coming.

Fortunately, we are not alone in this as a board. Our administrative office and our advisors have a wealth of expertise and provide us with excellent support.

A diverse board team in which different opinions are heard can make better decisions than a board in which everyone expresses more or less the same opinions. No friction, no shine. Discussions provide the necessary friction, resulting in better decisions: the shine! I think it is important that young people are also represented on the boards, so that their input is also taken into account. For me, inclusion means that everyone in an organisation or on a board should feel at home, be themselves, i.e. be authentic, and feel free to express themselves.

 

No friction, no shine. Discussions provide the necessary friction, resulting in better decisions: the shine!

 

When people with a Turkish background, like me, get to know each other, the first question is often, “Which part of Turkey are you from?”. That's a typical question to try to connect. Because the next comment is often, “I know people who live there,” or “They have that really tasty dish there, don't they?”. Incidentally, I was born and raised in the Netherlands.

It is my natural tendency to seek connection with people. I speak four languages fluently: Turkish, Dutch, English and Spanish. Language is also often a gateway to contact. For example, when I discover that someone else also speaks Spanish. I always try to make people feel at home with me and to be authentic. I encourage others to do the same. Hopefully, this will act as a catalyst for positive change.

 

I always try to make people feel at home with me and to be authentic. I encourage others to do the same.

 

An important insight I have gained from my work in the pension sector is that I should not be distracted by the issues of the day. I need to stay focused on the bigger picture and on the long-term goals. From time to time, there will be noise, but even then we must remain focused on where we want to go. Investing and managing pensions is always a long-term business. Trump's presidency and the major fluctuations on the financial markets will also pass at some point. We need to keep an eye on things, but at the same time we must not lose sight of other issues.

I consider my appointment as a director at BPL Pensioen to be the most important moment in my career so far. Initially, I considered this to be something unattainable. Being given this position was the icing on the cake of working in this sector. It also taught me that I can achieve a lot through hard work. That is very satisfying. When I did an internship at the Pension Fund for the Hotel and Catering Industry as part of the Pension Lab programme, I honestly felt like a novice. But during my internship at the Pension Fund for Hairdressers, I was fortunate that they allowed me to participate fully in the board, except of course when decisions had to be made or votes were taken. But they did ask for my opinion at those moments! That way, I experienced the processes from A to Z. What also worked well there was that I was assigned a buddy who I could go to with my questions. In addition, they immediately made me portfolio holder for a risk prevention study. This gave me a good foundation for my board membership at BPL Pensioen now. Here, too, I have a mentor who is showing me the ropes at the fund. My fellow board members are also happy to help me if I have any questions.

I want to let other young people know that managing a pension fund is a great job. If they want to know more, they can contact me. I'm happy to help! I can also highly recommend the Pensioenlab training programme.

I am quite ambitious. My ambition takes me to places I would not otherwise have been, but it also puts me under pressure. Performance pressure: I always try to be the best version of myself and set the bar high. My grandparents came to the Netherlands in the 1960s as guest workers to build a life for themselves. Thanks to their hard work and that of my parents, I am where I am today. That's why I feel I have to get the very best out of myself. It's something I've been taught from an early age. It means that I always seek out challenges and choose the most difficult path if I think it best fits my standards and values. Yes, really, my ambition is both a blessing and a curse. But with time, I am getting better at finding and maintaining the right balance. My husband and family support and motivate me in this. That gives me the mental space to dare to take on challenges. I am my own biggest critic.

 

I always seek out challenges and choose the most difficult path if I think it best fits my standards and values.

 

In addition to my work, I have a rich social life. I enjoy spending time with my husband and family and love my nephew, who recently celebrated his first birthday. I also have a large group of friends. More and more of my Spanish friends have got married in recent years, so I have travelled abroad regularly to attend their weddings. I also love reading. For relaxation, I prefer crime novels and thrillers. I also ride a motorbike and enjoy sports. My husband, who is Dutch, has encouraged us to cook Turkish food more often at home, also for family, in-laws and friends. This is greatly appreciated by family and friends, because it not only brings delicious smells and flavours into the house, but also memories and stories that connect everyone. 'I always try to make people feel at home with me and to be authentic. If necessary, I encourage others to be themselves too. 'I always seek out challenges and choose the most difficult path if I think it best fits my standards and values.’

Funda van Riel-Bor   Funda van Riel-Bor holds a master's degree in Finance and Financial Management Services. She has been working at APG Asset Management since mid-2023. At the end of 2024, she also became a board member at BPL Pensioen. Van Riel-Bor previously held positions at PGGM Investments, Solid FX and ABN AMRO Clearing Bank. As part of her training at Pensioenlab, she did an internship at Pensioenfonds Horeca en Catering and Pensioenfonds Kappers.

Attachments

• FI-4 - 2025 - RedInt Funda van Riel-Bor.pdf