The system is cracking
Belgium's pension system is under serious strain. People are living longer, birth rates are falling and the ratio of workers to retirees shifts further in the wrong direction every year. Statutory pensions have long stopped being enough, and the second pillar meant to bridge that gap, the supplementary pension, is barely pulling its weight. The median supplementary pension reserve among Belgian employees aged 56 to 65 stands at less than €10,000 today.
Part of the problem lies with the products themselves. A portion of pension reserves sits in branch 21 group insurance schemes: products that promise nominal returns but deliver very little once inflation and fees are factored in. Branch 23 products invest more dynamically, but structurally high management fees eat into returns year after year. Meanwhile, group insurance remains one of the heaviest line items in an employer's compensation budget and one of the least appreciated benefits. Employees receive one document per year that they barely understand.
The eighth wonder of the world
The vast majority of Belgians save for their retirement in financial products that erode their purchasing power year after year, even though retirement is by definition a long-term horizon. This is an enormous social problem whose severity remains chronically underestimated. It's not just about our pension. It's about our prosperity, today and for future generations.
What the Belgian system largely leaves untapped is what some call the eighth wonder of the world: compound returns over a long time horizon. An employee who invested 250 euros a month in the S&P 500 stock index forty years ago ends up today with roughly 2 million euros in their account.
That's exactly the insight on which countries like Australia, the Netherlands and the Scandinavian nations built their supplementary pension systems. In Australia, employers contribute at least 11% of gross salary into pension funds that invest broadly across capital markets. The entire system is designed to let that compounding effect work across a full career. The result: roughly 2,500 billion euros in pension capital sitting in the country, about twice Australia's GDP. By comparison, second-pillar pension reserves in Belgium amount to less than one fifth of GDP.
Better pension, same budget
That observation is where Warren began. The company obtained an IBP licence in June 2025 and has since run its own pension fund: Warren Pension Fund OFP. The fund invests through a mixed portfolio including an equity ETF and a bond ETF, under FSMA supervision. There are no entry or exit fees, and no percentage-based charge on assets under management. Companies that switch do so without any additional cost, working with the same pension budget they already have. The employer pays a fixed subscription. Every cent of return goes to the employee.
Finance and HR teams are hearing the same question more and more: where does this money actually go, and what do I really get back?
Traditional pension products are still too often a black box. The money leaves, but it generates neither a better financial outcome for the employee nor a stronger employer brand. Employers understand the urgency now, and they're not waiting around.
Financial coach
On top of the pension fund, Warren offers a coaching platform that guides employees across their entire financial life, through AI or a personal adviser when needed. The AI coach in the Warren app pulls data from multiple sources: the employer's compensation package, data from Mypension.be and bank transactions via PSD2. An employee who wants to know what income they'd fall back on during long-term illness, how much to set aside to retire at 63, or how best to renegotiate their mortgage, finds the answers in the app. For those who want to run things past a real expert, video consultations are available with one of Warren's nine domain specialists, covering everything from loans and insurance to investment planning.
Around a hundred companies
The approach is gaining traction. Within a year, around a hundred Belgian companies, including Lighthouse, Yuki, Wintercircus and Poppy Mobility, have switched to Warren for their pension plan. Thousands of employees use the app every day. To accelerate that growth, Warren has raised €10 million in a seed round led by the venture arm of transatlantic fund Motive Partners, with participation from F Capital and renewed backing from Entourage, Syndicate One and 100IN.
With this capital, we want to fundamentally reinvent the Belgian pension system. We're targeting 100,000 employees on the platform by 2028, after which we'll push into one or two larger European markets. That's why we're looking for around thirty additional hires, on top of the 25 already in place. We're building a workplace pension platform that genuinely delivers returns, for every company in Belgium and beyond. Building the financially fearless generation.