Reebok 2014 Annual Report Download - page 221

adidas Group
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2014 Annual Report
Consolidated Financial Statements
217
2014
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04.8
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Notes
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Notes to the Consolidated Statement of Financial Position
The Group has recognised post-employment benefit obligations arising from defined benefit plans. The benefits
are provided pursuant to the legal, fiscal and economic conditions in each respective country and mainly depend
on the employees’ years of service and remuneration.
Pensions and similar obligations
(€ in millions) Dec. 31, 2014 Dec. 31, 2013
Liability arising from defined benefit pension plans 271 243
Similar obligations 14 12
Pensions and similar obligations 284 255
Defined contribution pension plans
The total expense for defined contribution plans amounted to € 46 million in 2014 (2013: € 47 million).
Defined benefit pension plans
Given the diverse Group structure, different defined benefit pension plans exist, comprising a variety of
post-employment benefit arrangements. The Group’s major defined benefit pension plans relate to adidas AG
and its subsidiaries in the UK and Japan. The defined benefit pension plans generally provide payments in case
of death, disability or retirement to former employees and their survivors. The obligations arising from defined
benefit pension plans are partly covered by plan assets.
In Germany, adidas AG grants its employees contribution-based and final salary defined benefit pension
schemes, which provide employees with entitlements in the event of retirement, disability and death. In
general, German pension plans operate under the legal framework of the German Company Pensions Act
(‘Betriebsrentengesetz’) and under the German Labour Act. A large proportion of the pension plans are closed to
new entrants. New employees are entitled to benefits in accordance with the adidas Pension Plan or the adidas
Management Pension Plan. The adidas pension plan is a matching contribution plan; the contributions to this
pension plan are partly paid by the employee and partly paid by the employer. The contributions are transferred
into benefit building blocks. The benefits are paid out in the form of a pension, a lump sum or instalments. The
pension plans in Germany are financed using book reserves, a contractual trust arrangement (CTA), a pension
fund (‘Pensionsfonds’) or a provident fund (‘Unterstützungskasse’). The benefits granted to some members of
the Executive Board are funded via a pension fund (‘Pensionsfonds’) or a provident fund (‘Unterstützungskasse’).
An insurance company is responsible for the determination and the implementation of the investment strategy.
Further details about the pension entitlements of members of the Executive Board of adidas AG are contained in
the Compensation Report
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SEE COMPENSATION REPORT, P. 28.
The final salary defined benefit pension scheme in the UK is closed to new entrants and to future accrual.
The benefits are mainly paid out in the form of pensions. The scheme operates under UK trust law as well as
under the jurisdiction of the UK Pensions Regulator and therefore is subject to a minimum funding requirement.
The Trustee Board is responsible for setting the scheme’s funding objective, agreeing the contributions with the
company and determining the investment strategy of the scheme.
In Japan, employees are entitled to benefits from a defined benefit plan that is not funded by plan assets.
The benefits in case of retirement are dependent on final salary and service, and are paid out as a lump sum.
The pension plan is subject to Japanese labour law. In the first six months of 2015, it is planned to transfer the
liabilities from the defined benefit plan to a defined contribution plan.
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Pensions and similar
obligations