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Ball Horticultural Company Profit Sharing Retirement Plan
The plan was established in 1995 to cover all domestic employees of Ball Horticultural Company, a fourth-generation family business that introduces and...
Ball Horticultural Company Profit Sharing Retirement Plan
The plan was established in 1995 to cover all domestic employees of Ball Horticultural Company, a fourth-generation family business that introduces and distributes ornamental and vegetable seed varieties globally. Anna Caroline Ball, granddaughter of founder George J. Ball, leads both the commercial enterprise and the G. Carl Ball Family Foundation, while President Al Davidson and CFO Jacco Kuipers manage day-to-day operations. The retirement structure is separate from the family's personal wealth, though both draw from the same horticultural roots in West Chicago. The plan's assets are estimated at $172M (Altss estimate) and reflect a private-sector defined contribution design. Asset-class allocation is not publicly disclosed, but the underlying company's owned real estate — including the Ball Horticultural Global Headquarters on Town Road, the Ball Helix Central Research and Development Center, and trial gardens in Elburn, Illinois — suggests a firm with significant physical capital. The plan's investment strategy likely mirrors conservative corporate retirement defaults: balanced funds, stable-value options, and target-date series. Ball Horticultural's professional network includes Anna Ball's membership in The Chicago Network and her trustee role at The Morton Arboretum. The company participates in CIOPORA, the international breeders' association, and maintains two philanthropic arms: the American Floral Endowment's Ball Horticultural Company Fund and the G. Carl Ball Family Foundation. No adjacent investment vehicles, co-investment clubs, or direct-deal programs have been identified for the retirement plan itself. The plan's structural differentiator is its embeddedness within a multi-generational family business that has never been publicly traded. This governance model means the retirement vehicle is insulated from quarterly earnings pressure but also lacks the independent fiduciary oversight common among public pension funds. The Ball family's continued operational control — across commercial, research, and philanthropic entities — creates a legacy-driven investment culture rather than one optimized for purely financial returns.
General information
Firm type
Pension Fund
Year founded
1905
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
West Chicago
Corporate office
West Chicago, IL, United States
Principals
Anna Caroline Ball
Chairman and CEO of Ball Horticultural Company; Head of G. Carl Ball Family Foundation
Al Davidson
President of Ball Horticultural Company
Jacco Kuipers
CFO of Ball Horticultural Company
Frequently asked questions
Is this plan regulated as a pension or a profit-sharing vehicle?
It is a defined contribution profit-sharing plan, which means contributions are discretionary and tied to company performance. Unlike a traditional defined-benefit pension, employees bear investment risk. The plan covers all domestic employees of Ball Horticultural Company, a private entity.
Who makes investment decisions for the plan?
Specific fiduciary or committee names are not publicly disclosed. Given the plan's corporate structure and the Ball family's operational control, investment oversight likely falls to a mix of company executives — including CFO Jacco Kuipers — and an external recordkeeper or third-party administrator.
Does the plan invest in Ball Horticultural stock or real estate?
No evidence suggests the plan holds Ball Horticultural equity, which would be unusual for a profit-sharing plan given the company's private status. The firm's owned real estate — headquarters, R&D center, trial gardens — is held at the corporate level, not inside the retirement trust.
How does the plan relate to the G. Carl Ball Family Foundation?
The retirement plan and the foundation are legally separate. The plan serves employees; the foundation, led by Anna Ball, handles the family's philanthropic giving. There is no indication of shared assets or overlapping governance.
What is the plan's known posture toward ESG or sustainable agriculture?
No public ESG policy has been identified for the retirement plan. Ball Horticultural's commercial work involves plant breeding and genetics — including ornamental and vegetable varieties — but the plan itself does not advertise a thematic or impact-investing mandate.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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