Who are our participants?

At the end of 2023, Forward had exactly 5,934 active participants, former participants and pensioners. That is almost 400 more than a year earlier. The breakdown is as follows.

• Forward's active participants now stand at over 2,700. The number increased by almost 200 in 2023 due to new people who joined Unilever Netherlands. Among them are around 90 Vegatarische Slager employees who now also accrue pension with us

• Due to people leaving Unilever in 2023, the number of ex-participants who still have pensions with us) also increased. These are now nearly 2,900.
   
• Furthermore, Forward gained more than 50 pensioners. These are not only people who retired (and were therefore active or former participants first). They also include the surviving relatives of deceased participants, who now receive a partner pension, and a few who are long-term sick and therefore receive a disability pension.
  
  A total of about 340 people now receive monthly pension payments from Forward. Because Forward has only been in existence since 1 April 2015, this number is still relatively low. The vast majority of them receive pensions not only from Forward but also from Progress, the other part of the Unilever Pension Fund where accrual used to take place.

More than 10,000 digitals
Cooperation with Unilever has significantly increased the number of actives with whom we communicate digitally. So far, the numbers for the entire pension fund (Forward and Progress combined) have risen to around 90% of active participants, 50% of ex-participants and 40% of pensioners. That's more than 10,000 people! Good for us AND the environment, as this has significantly reduced our paper consumption.

July 2024