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 MSP participant group. In 2018 I became chairman of this. We call the MSP participant group 'The Group' for short.

At the end of May 2021, the policy funding ratio is 118.4%. This is an increase from April 2021. The policy funding ratio is the average of the current funding ratios for the last twelve months. The current funding ratio increased from 128.7% to 129.5% in May.

In the coming period, pension administrators in the Netherlands will look at whether they can merge about 2 million small pensions. These are small pensions that were created before 2018. Merging will take place automatically. You do not have to do anything.

For your pension from the MSP plan, you invest. You can decide how you want to invest in the mutual funds selected by MPF.

The Board has set the administration fee for participants in the Employee Selection Plan (MSP) for 2021. Mars Pension Fund has been charging these administration fees periodically again since January 1, 2020.

The pension agreement. You hear a lot about it, yet it still seems a long way off. What has happened since the last update in July 2020? And what do these developments mean for your pension at Mars Pension Fund? Time for an update.

On March 23, the Mars Pension Fund Board redefined the recovery plan for 2021. Every year we update this plan, based on the latest financial results. Good news: in the updated plan, we expect the policy coverage ratio to be back at or above the required equity (VEV) by the end of next year (2022).

At the end of February 2021, the policy funding ratio is 113.9%. This is an increase compared to January 2021. The policy funding ratio is the average of the current coverage ratios for the last twelve months. The current funding ratio increased from 119.3% to 123.1% in February.

The funding ratio of a pension fund is the ratio of the assets of the pension fund (the capital) to the commitments (the pensions to be paid). The funding ratio indicates whether the pension fund has sufficient funds to pay the pensions now and in the future.

Good news! As of January 1, 2021, we are increasing the pensions for retired members and former members by 0.34%.