The task is no longer just managing money competently, but making investment decisions well.
En un sistema donde más de tres millones de trabajadores confían su jubilación a fondos que, en su mayoría, no logran superar la inflación, EY ha decidido ocupar un lugar poco común: el del consejero que no tiene nada que ganar con el consejo que da. Con el telón de fondo de una reforma legal que reconfiguró los fondos de empleo en España en 2022, la firma lanza un servicio de consultoría de inversiones independiente dirigido a las comisiones de control, esos órganos de gobierno que toman decisiones críticas sobre decenas de miles de millones de euros. Es una apuesta por la claridad en un mercado donde la complejidad ha superado, durante demasiado tiempo, a la capacidad de quienes deben rendir cuentas ante ella.
- Solo uno de cada diez fondos de pensiones de empleo en España ha logrado batir la inflación en los últimos años, lo que significa que millones de trabajadores están perdiendo poder adquisitivo en silencio.
- Los mercados financieros se han vuelto más interconectados y volátiles, y las estrategias tradicionales de diversificación ya no funcionan como antes, dejando a las comisiones de control sin herramientas adecuadas para navegar la incertidumbre.
- EY entra en este espacio desde una posición estructuralmente distinta: no gestiona activos ni cobra comisiones sobre el patrimonio, lo que elimina el conflicto de interés que lastra a los gestores tradicionales.
- El nuevo servicio, liderado por Pablo Nortes y respaldado por la experiencia global de EY con los mayores fondos soberanos y de pensiones del mundo, busca profesionalizar la toma de decisiones en las comisiones de control españolas.
- El objetivo final no es solo mejorar rentabilidades, sino reconstruir la credibilidad de un sistema del que dependen más de tres millones de personas para su seguridad en la jubilación.
El sistema de pensiones de empleo en España gestiona más de 40.000 millones de euros para más de tres millones de partícipes, pero enfrenta un problema estructural que los números revelan con crudeza: apenas el 10% de los fondos logra superar la inflación. Para los trabajadores que depositan en ellos su ahorro para la jubilación, eso equivale a una pérdida silenciosa de poder adquisitivo año tras año.
En este contexto, EY ha lanzado un servicio de consultoría de inversiones independiente dirigido específicamente a las comisiones de control de los fondos de empleo, los órganos responsables de las decisiones de inversión. El momento no es casual: la ley de 2022 que reformó estos fondos ha generado una nueva demanda de asesoramiento profesional en un entorno más complejo y exigente.
La propuesta de EY descansa sobre una ventaja estructural: la firma no gestiona dinero ni cobra en función de los activos bajo gestión, lo que la libera de los conflictos de interés que condicionan a los gestores tradicionales. Olga Cecilia, socia responsable del área, lo resume con claridad: las comisiones de control necesitan más independencia, mejores herramientas y mayor capacidad de juicio para tomar decisiones que realmente protejan a los partícipes.
El servicio está liderado por Pablo Nortes, con amplia experiencia en el sector, y se apoya en el conocimiento global de EY, que asesora a seis de los diez mayores fondos de pensiones del mundo. Francisco González-Quevedo, socio responsable de la práctica, subraya que profesionalizar la toma de decisiones no es solo una cuestión de rentabilidad, sino de credibilidad para todo el sistema.
Lo que EY ofrece, en esencia, es una voz en la sala que no tiene ningún interés en el resultado salvo que sea el correcto.
Spain's pension fund system is at a crossroads. With over 40 billion euros under management and more than three million people depending on these funds for retirement security, the machinery that oversees these savings has grown too complex for the old ways of working. EY, the professional services firm, is betting that what these funds need most is someone to tell them the truth without a financial incentive to do otherwise.
The announcement came as Spain's pension landscape undergoes structural change driven by a 2022 law that reshaped how employment pension funds operate and simplified their design. In this shifting terrain, EY launched a new investment advisory service aimed specifically at the control commissions that govern these funds—the boards responsible for making critical decisions about where money gets invested and how it performs.
The numbers tell a cautionary tale. In recent years, barely one in ten Spanish employment pension funds has managed to deliver returns that outpace inflation. For millions of workers, that means their retirement savings are quietly losing purchasing power even as the money sits in professionally managed accounts. The challenge isn't just about picking better stocks or bonds. It's about having the right people asking the right questions, with the independence to push back when something doesn't make sense.
EY's new service, led by Pablo Nortes, a senior manager who recently joined the firm with deep pension sector experience, operates from a structural advantage: the firm doesn't manage money itself. It doesn't run investment funds or take a cut of assets under management. That absence of conflict is the whole point. Olga Cecilia, EY's partner overseeing compensation and pensions, framed it plainly: control commissions need more tools, more independence, and better judgment to navigate an increasingly complex investment environment. The goal is to help them make decisions that actually create value for the people whose retirement depends on them.
The market has changed in ways that traditional pension strategies haven't fully absorbed. Assets that once reliably moved in different directions—the kind of diversification that protects a portfolio—have started moving together during market stress. Financial markets have become more interconnected, more volatile, and harder to predict using old playbooks. Meanwhile, the workers themselves are changing: longer lifespans, different career patterns, and shifting expectations about what retirement should look like all demand a more dynamic approach to how funds are invested.
Francisco González-Quevedo, the partner leading EY's broader pensions and benefits practice, sees the shift as fundamental: the task is no longer just managing money competently, but making investment decisions well enough to strengthen confidence in the entire system. Professionalization of decision-making, he argues, is essential to improving results and rebuilding credibility.
EY brings global perspective to a local market. The firm works with six of the world's ten largest pension funds by assets and eight of the ten largest sovereign wealth funds. That experience in how the biggest, most sophisticated investors approach strategy and governance can now flow into Spanish boardrooms. The firm's pensions and benefits division has spent years advising major corporations and multinationals on how to manage employee benefits strategically—work that translates directly into understanding what control commissions face.
What's emerging is a market moment. Spain's pension system, managing real money for real people, needs decision-makers who can see clearly and speak plainly. EY is positioning itself as the voice in the room with no stake in the outcome except getting it right.
Notable Quotes
Control commissions need more tools, independence, and judgment to navigate an increasingly complex investment environment.— Olga Cecilia, EY partner overseeing compensation and pensions
The task is no longer just managing money competently, but making investment decisions well enough to strengthen confidence in the entire system.— Francisco González-Quevedo, partner leading EY's pensions and benefits practice
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does a pension fund control commission need outside advice if they already have professional asset managers handling the money?
Because the asset managers have a financial incentive to keep the money under management, regardless of whether the strategy is actually working. A control commission is supposed to be the check on that. But if they don't have independent expertise, they're essentially reviewing their own vendors' work without real leverage or clarity.
The article mentions only 10% of funds beat inflation. That's a striking failure rate. Is that EY's main sales pitch?
It's the market condition that makes the pitch possible. If funds were performing well, there'd be less urgency. But when nine out of ten funds are quietly eroding purchasing power, control commissions start asking harder questions. EY is saying: we can help you ask the right ones.
What's changed in financial markets that makes this service necessary now, specifically?
Assets that used to move independently—stocks versus bonds, for instance—have started moving together during crises. That breaks the old diversification logic. And the law itself changed the structure of Spanish pension funds. So you have both a market shift and a regulatory shift happening at once. Control commissions are suddenly managing in an environment their playbooks don't cover.
Does EY's lack of asset management capabilities actually matter, or is that just marketing language?
It matters structurally. If EY managed money, they'd have an incentive to recommend strategies that favor their own funds or to avoid recommending competitors. By not managing anything, they can tell a control commission exactly what they think without that conflict. It's a business model choice that creates credibility.
Who really benefits here—the workers whose pensions are at stake, or the control commissions that get to feel more professional?
Both, if it works. Better decision-making by control commissions should eventually mean better returns for workers. But there's a real question about whether independent advice alone solves a problem that might be structural—whether markets are just harder to beat than they used to be, regardless of how well you decide.