On the 14th of April 2010, the DHAN Foundation, HelpAge India and the Pension & Development Network officially launched their joined micro pension pilot product for the clients of the DHAN Foundation. At the launch in Madurai, more than 6,000 women gathered to celebrate the micro pension product. Mrs. Caroline van Dullemen (WorldGranny), Mr. Jacques van der Horst (Achmea), Mr. Jos van Ophem (Achmea) and Mrs. Anna Timmermans (Nationale Nederlanden) represented the Pension & Development Network at this event.

The DHAN Foundation works with over 700,000 poor families, mainly women working in the informal sector, in India. The coming 5 years the micro pension pilot will be up scaled to cover an initial 25,000 people at 10 locations of the DHAN Foundation.

Micro pensions are the next step in microfinance provisions. A micro pension scheme can be described as a fixed system of contributions. Participants save voluntarily during a long period. The built up savings are invested by a professional asset manager. At a pre-determined age, often around 58 – 60 years, the built up assets can be collected as a lump sum, in phases, on a yearly basis or through a combination of these methods.