Sanofi European Pension Fund has become the first Belgium-based pension fund to begin operating cross-border activity in Germany, with two Hoechst companies coming on board.

The development means that the liabilities associated with more than 5,000 pensioners of Hoechst GmbH and Hoechst Trevira Gmbh are being funded via Sanofi European Pension Fund.

Hoechst AG was one of the three largest chemical and pharmaceutical companies in Germany before merging with Rhône-Poulenc in 1999 to form Aventis, which was subsequently taken over by Sanofi.

Sanofi European Pension Fund’s assets under management have jumped by more than €650m as a result of the addition of the German section, which is legally ring-fenced from the section for the other countries – Ireland and Switzerland – in which the pension fund operates cross-border activity.

Of 15 cross-border pension funds authorised by the Belgian regulator, FSMA, Sanofi’s is the first to start running a German section. J&J Pension Fund has completed the notification procedure with FSMA for cross-border activity in Germany, but IPE has confirmed that it has not started activity in the country.

‘Will open doors’

Thierry Verkest, partner at Aon in Brussels, said adding a Germany section is a significant development for cross-border pension funds.

“After France was added to the Belgian ExxonMobil pension fund two years ago we’ve been waiting for liabilities from another large country to move into a cross-border pension fund,” he told IPE.

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