As a lawyer and professor, Prof. René Maatman focuses on pension issues. He has mastered both the asset side, asset management, and the liability side of the balance sheet of pension providers.
René has a long history in the pension industry. He worked for almost 20 years in the investment business of ABP of which 15 years as head of legal and tax affairs; a department of approximately 20 lawyers and tax specialists. ABP was then still a self-administered pension fund (APG did not yet exist) with offices in Heerlen, Amsterdam and New York. René was one of the founders of ABP's corporate governance and ESG policies and was a member of the Corporate Governance Committee ('Frijns Committee') from 2005-2008. His knowledge and experience enabled him to write a PhD thesis within two years: 'The Pension Fund as Asset Manager' (2004).
In 2008 René became a board member of the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) with a special focus on capital markets. From 2012 to 2021 he was a partner and attorney at De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek where he led the pension practice. Since 2018 he is a member of the supervisory board of occupational pension fund SPMS (medical specialists).
Since his dissertation, René has further explored the liabilities side of the pension fund balance sheet. In combination with his governance knowledge and his experience in asset management, he can handle any pension issue. His versatility is evident in his publications [link].
Since 2005 René has been Professor of Asset Management and Pension Issues at the Research Centre Business & Law of Radboud University Nijmegen. He teaches 'Pension fund governance' within the Certified Pension Executive course at the Erasmus School of Accounting & Assurance and 'Governance and fiduciary responsibility' as part of the Netspar Masterclass 'Pension regulation, supervision and governance'.
"Pension assets in the Netherlands are a rich asset and a luxury problem. Pension issues are socially relevant and very fascinating. It is essential to look at the rights and obligations of pension providers in context. "I'm above the balance sheet,' I sometimes say."
