# The Kroger Co. Defined Benefit Plan

The Kroger Co. Defined Benefit Plan is a Pension Fund based in Cincinnati, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Pension Fund
- **Headquarters:** Cincinnati, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** Cincinnati, OH, United States
- **Founded:** 1997
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** thekrogerco.com
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-kroger-co

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

The Kroger Co. Defined Benefit Plan is a legacy corporate pension vehicle based in Cincinnati, Ohio, operating as the retirement plan for the employees of The Kroger Co. The plan falls under the purview of the parent company's finance division, currently overseen by Interim CFO Todd Foley. Unlike more diversified public or Taft-Hartley plans, this fund is a closed corporate entity, with investment decisions centralized under the named fiduciary of the parent company. The plan's investment strategy is singularly concentrated within private equity, targeting buyout funds exclusively. This allocation is executed through The Kroger Co. Retirement Master Trust, the primary investment vehicle for the company's pension assets. The trust pursues exposure through commitments to external private equity managers, focusing on mature, cash-flowing companies rather than venture capital or growth equity. While specific fund relationships are not publicly cataloged, the plan's appetite for buyouts is consistent with the standard corporate pension approach to liability-matching via private asset classes, seeking yields that outpace public market fixed income. The Kroger Co. also holds a unique position in the multi-employer pension ecosystem as the named fiduciary with sole investment authority over the UFCW Consolidated Pension Plan. This relationship places Kroger's internal investment apparatus in control of assets beyond its own corporate employees, extending the buyout-focused strategy to a union-sponsored plan. The corporate headquarters and primary fund operations remain exclusively in Cincinnati, Ohio, with no additional investment offices listed in other financial hubs. The plan's defining structural feature is its dual role as both a single corporate plan and an investment manager for a multi-employer union fund. This hybrid fiduciary posture is uncommon; while most corporate pension investment teams are strictly internally focused, The Kroger Co.'s team must discharge its duty for a separate, non-corporate beneficiary pool in the UFCW plan. This arrangement concentrates influence over substantial retirement assets within the parent company's treasury function, linking the investment outcomes of union grocery workers directly to the oversight of Kroger's corporate officers.

## People

- Todd Foley — Interim Chief Financial Officer

## Questions

### Who runs investment decisions at The Kroger Co. Defined Benefit Plan?

Investment decisions fall under the Kroger Co. corporate finance division, which is overseen by Interim CFO Todd Foley. As the named fiduciary, The Kroger Co. retains sole investment authority for both its own plan and the UFCW Consolidated Pension Plan. The internal team manages the Retirement Master Trust, which aggregates the pension assets into a single investment pool.

### What is the relationship between The Kroger Co. Defined Benefit Plan and the UFCW Consolidated Pension Plan?

The Kroger Co. serves as the named fiduciary with sole investment authority over the UFCW Consolidated Pension Plan, a multi-employer plan for United Food and Commercial Workers union members. This means Kroger's internal investment team manages the UFCW plan's assets alongside its own corporate pension fund within the same master trust structure. It effectively pools the investment management for both union and corporate retirement beneficiaries under a single oversight body.

### Does the plan invest directly in companies or only through funds?

The plan accesses private equity through fund commitments rather than direct co-investments or standalone deals. Capital is deployed into external buyout funds, meaning Kroger selects managers who then execute the underlying acquisitions. This fund-of-funds-like posture, while standard for corporate pensions of its size, forgoes the fee savings and sourcing control of a direct investment program in favor of manager diversification.

## Related profiles

- [The King's Fund](https://altss.com/profile/the-king-s-fund)
- [The L.T. Funds](https://altss.com/profile/the-l-t-funds)

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Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

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