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Dow Chemical Company Pension Fund
The Dow Chemical Company Pension Fund serves as the defined-benefit vehicle for eligible US employees of the Midland, Michigan-based materials science giant.
Dow Chemical Company Pension Fund
The Dow Chemical Company Pension Fund serves as the defined-benefit vehicle for eligible US employees of the Midland, Michigan-based materials science giant. It sits within the company's broader benefits architecture and reports through corporate treasury, a structure typical of large industrial pension plans. Investment oversight is led by CIO John Blaha, with Kelly Reyes serving as plan administrator for the Dow Employees' Pension Plan. The fund allocates across a diversified institutional portfolio. Confirmed commitments span European commercial real estate through Tristan Capital Partners' EPISO series and global mixed-use property via Aberdeen Property Investors, supplemented by direct agricultural land holdings through NCH Capital. Traditional fixed-income and public-equity allocations form the core portfolio. The geographic footprint extends from US domestic holdings into Europe and select emerging agricultural markets. Dow participates in the Council of Institutional Investors, signaling active engagement on governance matters within its public-market portfolio. The fund's adjacent structures include The Dow Chemical Company Foundation, the firm's philanthropic vehicle, though the two operate with separate mandates. In its most recent regulatory filings, the plan maintained standard defined-benefit liability-matching posture expected of a frozen or mature corporate plan. The fund's structural distinction lies in its blended deployment model. Unlike many corporate plans that have fully outsourced to an OCIO, Dow retains internal CIO discretion for direct real-asset allocations while using specialized external managers for European real estate and agricultural strategies. This partial-insourcing reflects the company's willingness to commit balance-sheet energy to real assets alongside its operating business in materials science.
General information
Firm type
Pension Fund
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Midland
Corporate office
Midland, MI, United States
Principals
John Blaha
Chief Investment Officer
Kelly Reyes
Plan Administrator, Dow Employees' Pension Plan
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at the Dow Chemical Company Pension Fund?
John Blaha serves as Chief Investment Officer for the fund, overseeing asset allocation and manager selection. Kelly Reyes administers the Dow Employees' Pension Plan on the operational side. Investment decisions ultimately report through Dow's corporate treasury and benefits structure.
What is the fund's posture on real assets versus traditional fixed income?
The fund maintains a dual approach. Core portfolio construction follows standard liability-driven investing principles for a mature corporate plan, while the real-assets sleeve includes direct commitments to European property funds through Tristan Capital Partners, global mixed-use via Aberdeen, and US agricultural land through NCH Capital.
Does the Dow pension fund invest directly or through external managers?
The fund uses external managers for specialized real-asset strategies, including Tristan Capital Partners for European commercial real estate and NCH Capital for agricultural land. Traditional asset classes are managed through a combination of internal oversight and external mandates, with the CIO retaining discretion over the overall portfolio shape.
How is the Dow Chemical Company Pension Fund related to the Dow Chemical Company Foundation?
The foundation is a separate philanthropic entity funded by Dow. It operates independently from the pension fund, which exists solely to meet retirement obligations for eligible US employees of the company. There is no commingling of assets or investment mandates between the two.
Is the plan still open to new participants?
The plan's current participant status is not publicly detailed in accessible filings. Many large corporate defined-benefit plans of Dow's vintage have been frozen to new entrants, but confirmation would require a direct review of the most recent Summary Plan Description.
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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