Dutch pension funds are being urged to pull their money out of private equity funds such as Sun Capital by the country’s biggest trade union federation, the FNV.

The union has written to several pension funds urging them to rethink their investment strategies because of the impact of private equity investment on employment.

Sun Capital last year pulled the plug on the V&D department store chain, causing it to go bankrupt and putting thousands of jobs at risk. However, the private equity group had pledged to stay with the company for two more years.

‘Pension premiums should be used for good pensions, not in this way,’ the union letter said.

Last year, FNV urged pension funds not to invest in companies which were involved in building football stadiums in Qatar because of their bad health and safety records.