APG, the largest pension provider in the Netherlands, today announces that it will position a team of platform developers independently. As of today, the team, with ten employees, will continue under the name Hyfen. Hyfen is a spin-off from APG in which the Belgian IT provider The Glue has acquired a majority share. APG remains involved as a shareholder and client.
Brussels, September 3rd 2020 –
In recent years, Hyfen has built a platform to connect administrations of parties in the pension sector. Previously complex and cross-business processes can be organized more efficiently and more customer-friendly with the help of the platform.
Hidde Terpoorten, director of Hyfen: “The first product we’re launching is Mijnwaardeoverdracht.nl. Currently, the platform is being connected and taken into use with the first customers. Later this year the public go-live will follow in cooperation with the Dutch pension sector. Arranging a pension value transfer is a complicated and time-consuming affair for participants. This will change with the solution developed by Hyfen. By cooperating with four large pension providers, it will soon be possible to arrange a value transfer for members online simply and quickly.”
Gerard van Olphen, Chairman of the Executive Board of the APG Group: “By positioning Hyfen remotely, our pension fund clients and their participants continue to benefit from the knowledge and skills of these professionals – while at the same time giving other pension funds and participants access to their innovative services. I am convinced that Hidde and his team will be successful and look forward to further cooperation with pleasure and confidence.”
In addition to APG as shareholder and customer, the Belgian full-service IT provider The Glue joined the spin-off as a majority shareholder. The Glue is part of a big FinTech ecosystem and has extensive project and IT experience in the financial sector.
The Glue CEO Paul Grimbers: “Much remains to be done on the European playing field of pension service providers. By joining forces and focusing on the creation of platforms with innovative data exchange, we want to deliver added value in this domain.”
With the new set-up, Hyfen will be given the space to provide independent services to the pension sector and its participants and to use the accumulated knowledge for other processes within and outside the pension sector. Future possibilities are explored together with the consortium.
About APG Group NV
APG is the largest pension provider in the Netherlands; its approximately 3,000 employees provide executive consultancy, asset management, pension administration, pension communication and employer services. APG performs these services on behalf of (pension) funds and employers in the sectors of education, government, construction, cleaning and window cleaning, housing associations, energy and utility companies, sheltered employment organizations, and medical specialists. APG manages approximately €524 billion (June 2020) in pension assets for the pension funds in these sectors. APG works for approximately 22,000 employers, providing the pension for one in five families in the Netherlands (about 4.7 million participants). APG has offices in Heerlen, Amsterdam, Brussels, New York and Hong Kong. More information www.apg.nl/en
About The Glue NV
The Glue builds platforms for the financial sector. As a full service IT agency, it provides full support from the first concept to launch and all necessary support afterwards. Thanks to previously acquired knowledge and experience, The Glue can greatly accelerate the development of a platform. Projects are characterized by their robust infrastructure and reusable software. The Glue has developed, among others, Dot.Capital, a marketplace for primary bond issues for Belfius bank. For Assuralia, the Belgian insurance federation, The Glue has built “Proof of Insurance”, where external parties will be able to verify whether or not a car driver is insured. The Glue was started in 2015 by Jürgen Ingels, founder of Clear2Pay (NYSE: FIS) and Stefan Dierckx, Projective CEO. More info www.theglue.com.