Nest has reached £10bn assets under management (AUM) invested on behalf of more than 8.6 million members.
The scheme has hit the £10bn mark in less than a decade, having been launched in 2011.
Nest is also announcing two new additions to its investment committee, the body overseeing the pension scheme’s investment strategy which manages the AUM. Jennie Austin and Jaap van Dam have been appointed by Nest Corporation to enhance the skillset and expertise on the Investment Committee.
Austin has run funds both actively and passively as an equities manager with the BT and Post Office Pension Schemes. She became an authority on programme and quantitative trading, working at Nomura and then Barclays Global Investors. Subsequently she built and advised start-up businesses in electronic trading, independent research and broking. She was most recently at Most recently at FTSE Russell, where she worked for ten years with some of the UK and Europe’s largest pension and sovereign wealth fund investment teams. She is a specialist in benchmark selection for both active and passive management, across smart beta, factor and ESG/ethical and climate funds.
Van Dam is investment director at PGGM’s Investment Practice. In 2013 Jaap was voted CIO / “Investment Head of the Year” by aiCIO. He is chairman of the VBDO, the Dutch Association of Investors for Sustainable Development, Chairman of European Chapter of the 300 Club and Member of the Research Committee International Centre for Pension Management (ICPM). Together with Kees Koedijk and Alfred Slager he authored “Achieving Investment Excellence: A Practical Guide for Trustees of Pension Funds, Endowments and Foundations.”
Nest chief investment officer Mark Fawcett says: “We started investing for Nest members in 2011 and the first contribution was just £19. Reaching £10bn AUM shows Nest is set to become one of the largest players in the UK pensions market and the scheme is now receiving £400 million new contributions every month.
“We take this responsibility very seriously and every decision we take is in the best interests of our members. This includes making sure our investment strategy evolves as contributions grow, for example by continuing to build on our market leading approach to ESG investment.”
Austin says: “The UK pension industry is at a fascinating junction and what’s clear is we have a huge opportunity to help millions of people have a workplace pension and enjoy a better retirement.
“I’m excited to join Nest’s investment committee and continue the success they’ve achieved so far. There are a range of investment approaches, such as climate funds and factor investing, where I can offer my expertise and help shape the right approach to deliver the best member outcomes.”
Van Dam says: “I am honoured to become a member of Nest’s investment committee. I look at Nest as an extremely important and efficient vehicle to deliver a pension to many British workers who would otherwise have difficulty entering the pension system.
“The rapid growth of Nest over the coming decades will require important decisions around investment management. I am a great admirer of the intellectual rigor Nest applies to its practice – from the behavioural choice design to the investment solutions it implements.”
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