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Mars, Incorporated Retiree Health Care and Life Plan
The Plan operates as the health-and-welfare vehicle for retired Mars, Incorporated US associates, anchored to the confectionery and pet-care empire the Mars...
Mars, Incorporated Retiree Health Care and Life Plan
The Plan operates as the health-and-welfare vehicle for retired Mars, Incorporated US associates, anchored to the confectionery and pet-care empire the Mars family has controlled since 1911. Fred Nieuwland oversees investment strategy for the Mars-affiliated pension plans, while Jason Naskiewicz manages Americas-side deployment from the firm's Hackettstown, New Jersey base. The Plan's governance runs through a dedicated trust, the Mars, Incorporated Retiree Health Care and Life Plan Trust. The portfolio tilts toward directly held industrial real estate, including the New Moscow Warehouse and the Mars Wrigley US headquarters complex in Hackettstown. The Plan also maintains general private-market allocations — private equity fund commitments and real-asset co-investments accessed through Mars, Incorporated's broader treasury relationships. Geographic exposure spans the US, Europe, and Russia, reflecting Mars's operational footprint. Real estate reporting follows GRESB standards, a signal of institutionalized ESG oversight. Fred Nieuwland leads investment policy for Mars's pension vehicles, with Jason Naskiewicz handling day-to-day execution in the Americas. Naskiewicz sits on the Advisory Board of the Defined Contribution Institute, a peer network that shapes US retirement-plan practice. Mars, Incorporated's former CEO Grant Reid joined the Vanguard board of directors, reinforcing the firm's ties to institutional investment governance. Adjacent Mars-family foundations — the Mars Impact Fund, the Mars Wrigley Foundation, and the Virginia Cretella Mars Foundation — run separate philanthropic mandates. The Plan's structural advantage is its embeddedness inside a family-controlled, non-public company. Mars, Incorporated does not face quarterly earnings pressure, allowing the Plan to hold illiquid real estate and private equity across cycles without liquidity-timing constraints. That patient-capital posture, combined with direct property ownership in operating-company locations, makes the vehicle behave more like a captive family-office balance sheet than a generic corporate defined-contribution plan.
General information
Firm type
Pension Fund
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Hackettstown
Corporate office
Hackettstown, NJ, United States
Additional offices
McLean, VA, United States
Principals
Fred Nieuwland
Chief Investment Officer
Jason Naskiewicz
Americas Investment Manager
Grant Reid
Former CEO, Mars, Incorporated
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions for the Mars, Incorporated Retiree Health Care and Life Plan?
Fred Nieuwland serves as Chief Investment Officer for Mars, Incorporated's pension plans, with Jason Naskiewicz managing day-to-day Americas deployment. The Plan's investment committee operates under Mars corporate treasury oversight. Grant Reid, the former Mars CEO who now sits on Vanguard's board, helped shape the governance framework during his tenure.
What does the Plan actually own?
Publicly identifiable holdings include the New Moscow Warehouse and the Mars Wrigley US headquarters in Hackettstown, New Jersey. The Plan also participates in private equity fund commitments and co-investments sourced through Mars, Incorporated's institutional relationships. A dedicated trust vehicle holds Plan assets.
How is the Plan related to Mars, Incorporated and the Mars family?
The Plan is a defined-contribution health-and-life vehicle covering retired US associates of Mars, Incorporated — the privately held confectionery, pet-care, and food company controlled by the Mars family. Mars, Incorporated sponsors the Plan and employs its investment staff. The Plan operates separately from the Mars-family foundations, which pursue philanthropic rather than retirement-benefit missions.
Does the Plan co-invest alongside Mars, Incorporated's treasury or the family office?
While the Plan does not publicly disclose co-investment arrangements, its direct ownership of industrial real estate in Mars operating-company locations suggests at least some alignment with corporate treasury's property decisions. The Plan's private-market access likely flows through partnerships Mars, Incorporated maintains across institutional managers.
What is the Plan's stance on ESG and real estate reporting?
The Plan uses GRESB for standardized emissions reporting on its real estate portfolio, indicating institutional-grade ESG processes. Mars, Incorporated itself has set public sustainability targets, and the Plan's adoption of GRESB aligns pension assets with the parent company's reporting infrastructure.
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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