New Forward pension scheme

On 1 July 2023, the new Dutch pension act (the so-called ‘Wet toekomst pensioenen’) formally entered into force. In a few years' time, Forward will therefore move to a new pension scheme. It is up to Unilever Netherlands and the unions (the so-called 'social partners') to shape that new scheme.

What kind of scheme will it be?
In early 2024, the social partners conducted a survey of Unilever employees' preferences regarding the new scheme. As the choice for the new scheme has to be made by 1 January 2025 at the latest, in the coming period their consultations will be largely dominated by the topic of pensions. The target implementation date of the new scheme is 1 January 2027.

Preparations in full swing
At the pension fund, preparatory work is also in full swing. In 2023, for instance, our board started working on the results of the 2022 survey on Forward participants' attitudes towards investment risk. Together with a specialised agency, the board is working to translate the survey results into practice. Concrete steps can be taken after the social partners have made their so-called 'contract choice'.

Meanwhile, the project organisation within the pension fund has - as far as possible - been set up and prepared for the upcoming transition to a new scheme. Essential to this are the data in our administration. To ensure a smooth transition, the quality of our data was examined last year by an external party. That study showed that Forward's data quality is very high with an accuracy of more than 99.9%. Therefore, this will not hinder a smooth transition to the new scheme.

Q&A's
Through our eService and website, we keep our participants informed of important developments. In that context, the following Q&As were published last year.

July 2024