Now Pensions has appointed Fiona Matthews to its trustee board.
Matthews has worked across the pensions industry for more than 25 years, and set up LifeSight, Willis Towers Watson’s master trust. She also co-founded the Inclusion and Diversity Council at WTW.
Matthews has also worked closely with the PLSA, sitting on its master trust committee and is a fellow at the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.
Now Pensions, which says it is the UK’s second largest independent auto-enrolment scheme, has more than £4bn in AUM. It says this appointment comes as it set to make a number of “upgrades” to its proposition which will be rolled out to employers and member in early summer.
The auto-enrolment provider follows a different investment strategy to other DC pension providers, operating on a derivative-based risk parity basis, rather than holding equities and bonds directly.
However it has significant underperformed the market in recent years. According to the latest CAPA data — which looks at the performance of the default funds of leading DC master trust and GPP providers — Now Pensions delivered annualised returns of 1.98 per cent over the past five years, before charges.
This compares to the CAPA average of 5.45 per cent over this same period. The best-performing default, from Aon’s master trust delivered annualised returns of 8.68 per cent over this period. The master trust has consistently underperformed the market during the period that Corporate Adviser has been compiling this CAPA data.
The Now Pensions trustee board is chaired by Joanne Segars — a well-known industry figure, who has previously led the Association of British Insurers. Other trustees on the board include Adrian Kennett of Dalriada Trustees, Ed Jones, Gary Smith and Tracy Weller.
The trustees said that Matthews’ experience aligns with its trustees’ three stewardship themes of gender equality, climate change and living wage.
Segars says: “[Matthews] joins during a transformative year for the scheme and the pensions industry at large. The extensive experience, knowledge and enthusiasm she will bring to the role will play a key part in helping to uphold the board’s commitment to promoting good member outcomes.”
Matthews adds: “As one of the most prominent master trusts in the industry, Now Pensions has an important role to play in ensuring improved outcomes for members. By undertaking this new challenge, I hope to play an essential part of the board’s commitment to upholding excellence for members.”
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