The Co-op Retirement Plan is a multiple-employer defined-benefit pension plan sponsored by United Benefits Group, a Missouri non-profit corporation representing the interests of the Plan's participating employers. The Plan serves nearly 14,000 active participants who are employed by over 410 cooperative and cooperative-owned businesses. These organizations are located in a broad geographical area encompassing 15 states from North Dakota to Texas and from Colorado to Illinois.

Created in 1946, the Co-op Retirement Plan has a long and successful history of serving the cooperative community. From humble beginnings the Plan has grown to become one of the largest pension plans for cooperatives, with over 35,000 total participants (which include retirees, vested deferred annuitants, and beneficiaries) and over $1.2 billion in assets. The Plan currently distributes almost $60 million annually in pension benefits. The Plan is administered by a 5-person committee appointed by the Board of Directors of United Benefits Group. The Committee members are experienced leaders in the cooperative community.

The current Committee:

• Ken Hahn, Chairman, General Manager of Planters Cooperative Association, Lone Wolf, Oklahoma
• Jim Carlson, Vice Chairman,  General Manager of First Cooperative Association, Cherokee, Iowa
• Ed Foster, President/CEO of All-Points Cooperative, Gothenburg, Nebraska
• David Christiansen, President/CEO of Mid-Kansas Co-op Association, Moundridge, Kansas
• Stan Stark, President/General Manager of Farmers Cooperative Co., Haviland, Kansas

  Under the direction of the Plan Committee, United Benefits Group provides the day-to-day administration of the Co-op Retirement Plan. United Benefits Group was staffed on January 1, 2003 by former employees of the Employee Trust Administration of Farmland Industries, Inc. Before January 1, 2003, the Plan had been administered by Farmland Industries, Inc. United Benefits Group also provides some plan administrative services for the Farmland Foods, Inc. Employee Retirement Plan and various other retirement plans.

United Benefit Group offices are located at 1251 N.W. Briarcliff Parkway, Suite 175, Kansas City, Missouri 64116. The Plan’s toll-free phone number is 1-800-816-5535. Please feel free to ask for any of the United Benefits Group Employees listed below:

• Keith Vickers, President
• Helen Reardon, Administrative Assistant
• Greg Runyan, Secretary, Senior Pension Administrator, and Employer/Employee Communications Manager
• Brent Evans, Treasurer & Controller
• Terry Shiblom, Supervisor, Benefit Accounting and Systems Support
• Cynthia Brunker, Project Specialist
• Sid Simpson, Supervisor of Benefit Processing
• Cathy Miles, Senior Benefits Administrator
• Karel Batres, Benefits Administrator
• JoAnn Crawford, Benefits Administrator
• Sheryl Hockensmith, Benefits Coordinator
• Stephanie Bayle, Benefit Service Coordinator
• Susan Calvin, Benefit Service Coordinator
• Larry Thompson, Programmer/Analyst

The multiple employer plan format of the Co-op Retirement Plan enables local cooperatives to offer benefit portability between participating employers and to gain economies of scale in the purchase of necessary services for their plan.

The assets of the Co-op Retirement Plan are held in a trust fund, the trustee of which is J.P. Morgan Chase Bank of New York City. While the investment of the Plan's assets is the ultimate responsibility of the Retirement Committee, the Committee has engaged the services of a professional, independent investment advisor to assist it in making decisions regarding the appropriate allocation of money to different classes of investments and the selection of qualified money managers within each asset class. The investment advisor also monitors the performance of the Plan's asset portfolio in general and the performance of each investment manager specifically.

The result is a highly-diversified portfolio managed by a carefully selected team of respected professionals. The Plan has enjoyed good portfolio performance over both the long and short run. The Co-op Retirement Plan is a sterling example of the power of cooperation... the coming together of many businesses to form a large and successful Retirement Plan, the likes of which they could not have duplicated individually. We hope this web-site will be informative and educational. If you have any questions about the plan, we invite you to use the "Contact the Plan Administrator" feature.