... and from 600 million guilders to 1.3 billion euros!

After working as a temporary employee for a year, I joined Mars as a permanent employee in 1978. In the beginning as a packer. Through internal training I became a process operator. Twelve years later I was elected to participate in the works council. And now I am a director of Mars Pension Fund.

In 2003 I was elected by the works council as a delegate in MPF. At the time, it was 32 hours a year in terms of time commitment: two meetings and a dinner. Now it is a bit more. Another difference: when I started, there was a total of 600 million guilders in the fund. Now it's more than 1.3 billion!

Time out

I have now been working for MPF for over 12 years. I still enjoy my current position as secretary. Nevertheless, I have indicated that I want to quit as soon as a successor has been found. Since a few years the board meetings are in English. Reading the documents requires extra time from me, but I was happy to make up for that. The problem is the discussions in the meetings, so I have to ask for a time out now and again!

Changes in the pension world

At MPF, I have always worked to ensure clarity for the employees. I am therefore closely involved in all pension communications. An important development in this area is our own website with dashboard.

Looking back, a lot has changed in the pension world. Twelve years ago De Nederlandsche Bank only looked at whether someone had his own finances in order. Since 2008, DNB's guidelines have become much stricter: a pension administrator must have good pension knowledge from the outset.

Vacancies

There are currently a number of vacancies within MPF, both on the Board and on the Accountability Body. I would like colleagues in Veghel and Oud-Beijerland to apply to the pensions office. The board may be a mix in which employees and former employees are represented.

Jack van Lith