IFF, the works council and the unions have been in discussions for some time to shape the new pension plan under the Future Pensions Act. Who will administer the new pension plan is yet to be decided.

IFF Pension Fund is a small corporate pension fund with a small number of members. It is increasingly difficult to comply with all laws and regulations at acceptable costs. In addition, it is increasingly difficult to find enough expert administrators. The board of the pension fund made the future sustainability of the fund the subject of a study day last year. The outcome of this day was that continuing with its own fund is only possible if IFF sees having its own fund as a very important condition of employment and is willing to invest a lot in it.

And while IFF, the works council and the unions believe a good pension plan is unchanged in importance, an in-house pension fund is not necessary to administer the plan. The employer is now looking at a so-called General Pension Fund as a possible new pension administrator. A General Pension Fund administers the pension scheme of several employers simultaneously, in separate 'pension circles'. 

Kees Wisse, chairman of the board: 'We have been running into the limits of our capabilities for quite some time. It is hard for us to acknowledge this, but we are realistic and cannot close our eyes to reality. The pressure is high to organize everything more efficiently, including pensions'.

Thus, more than 80 years of the IFF Pension Fund may be coming to an end. When it was established in 1941, then managing director Brummer indicated that the founding was an important event for Polak & Schwarz. He expressed the wish "that this will be a comfort to all of you, especially in these difficult times, to know that you can look forward to your old age without worries”. At the time, the scheme applied only to male staff aged 20 and over who had entered service before age 50.

Much has changed since then.  Polak & Schwarz became I.F.F. (Netherlands) B.V. IFF has grown in recent years into a multinational company with some 22,000 colleagues in more than sixty countries.

At this time, IFF has not made a final choice for a new executor. Negotiations on this are still ongoing. Until a choice has been made for a new administrator, nothing will change for you. You will continue to accrue and receive your pension as you are used to.