My name is Harold van Heesch and I have been employed by Mars for a total of 28 years. Since 2011 I have been working on semi-manufactured products as a process area operator. I am a member of the works council in Veghel and a member of the pension fund board. Already in 2013 I joined the ASP participant group. In 2018 I became chairman of this. We call the ASP participant group 'The Group' for short.
'The Group'
The Group was established at the same time as the ARP/ASP plan in 2004. Anyone who has been employed by Mars Veghel or Oud-Beijerland since 2004 is a participant in this plan. The Group consists of a minimum of 4 members who all participate in the ARP/ASP plan. We are supported by the DC investment manager of the Mars Investment Team, the pension office and if necessary by external advisors.
At the moment, the Group consists of Ruud van de Beucken (Supply shifts), Michel de Vries (Supply day shift), Harold van Heesch (Supply shifts) and Daan Rijsmus. We recently welcomed Daan as a new member. He works as a manager at Corporate Consolidation & Reporting Financial Strategy.
Responsibility
The Group is a sounding board group. This means that we exchange ideas with the board of Mars Pension Fund on behalf of the members. This concerns various subjects that are important and topical for our plan. Think, for example, of the current Life Cycle. Every three years we check whether it still meets the set requirements. We also discuss our attitude to risk. Has it changed? Or does the current attitude to risk still suffice?
Another example: Vanguard recently gave us a presentation on socially responsible investing. All funds in the Life Cycle or Self-Investment are part of the Vanguard group. So important for participants in the ARP/ASP plan. We use an external consultant for these important topics.
We meet four times a year to discuss topics that are current and important at that time. Topics can also be suggested by members of the Group itself.
Interesse?
We currently have a number of positions open for participants in the ARP/ASP plan who are interested, to know more and have a say in what is going on within the ARP/ASP. As a sounding board group, we feel it is important that we represent the participants across the board. A representation from Oud-Beijerland is still missing. Therefore, we would particularly like to invite associates from Oud-Beijerland to join.
If you want to know more, please contact Harold van Heesch, Huub van Berkel (DC Investment Manager) or Helmy Bakermans.