Philips Electronics' pension fund, which has hired Merrill Lynch Investment Managers to look after its assets, is propping up the bottom of performance league tables in the Netherlands.

Philips and ABP, a civil servants' pension fund, were the lowest-ranked performers over 10 years among Dutch schemes worth more than €5bn ($6.5bn), according to Stichting Performance, a data provider. Over five years, Philips produced a flat performance, which was bottom of the pack.