Members' Panel

NEST's Members' Panel

The Members' Panel allows NEST to take the views and considerations of members into account.

The panel is a sounding board for ideas and suggestions proposed by NEST. It provides recommendations on key issues ensuring that specific member concerns are raised at Trustee level.

Members' Panel Chair

Museji Takolia CBE is chair of NEST's Members' Panel.

Museji is currently executive chairman of Intellicomm Solutions and is a non-executive director at OFSTED. He has worked in local government as a senior adviser at the Cabinet Office, and has been very active within consumer and regulatory issues.

Panel members

• Naomi Cooke
• Paul Goding
• Malcolm McLean OBE
• Stella Okeahialam MBE
• Doug Taylor
• Wendy van den Hende
• Toby Vintcent

The Members' Panel will also participate in the appointment of future Trustee members and will be consulted on any reviews of the Statement of Investment Principles (SIP) (PDF, 218KB).

The Members' Panel publishes an annual report. This explains how NEST has considered the views of scheme and panel members. The Members’ Panel annual report 2011/2012 (PDF) is now available.

Members' Panel profiles

• Naomi Cooke is the assistant general secretary for the FDA, a trade union representing 20,000 senior managers and professionals in the public sector. Before this Naomi was the national pensions officer for the GMB spending almost ten years representing the pensions interests of more than 600,000 members across the public and private sectors. She's a member of the EIOPA Occupational Pensions Stakeholder Group, a key pensions stakeholder group for the EU and was previously a member of the Policy Review Group for the Local Government Pension Scheme and various review groups established by the Department for Work and Pensions. Naomi has also participated in The Pensions Regulator's Advisory Panel, the Deregulation Review and was involved in the development of the Financial Assistance Scheme and Pension Protection Fund. Before her role at the GMB, Naomi worked for the Communication Workers Union as a Senior Telecoms Industry Researcher.
• Paul Goding is head chef at Dorneywood, currently weekend residence for Chancellor of the Exchequer. Before that Paul spent some time with marketing company TPM where he was responsible for the external marketing of their conference and banqueting facilities for the Royal College of Surgeons. Between 2001 and 2003 he was co-owner and director of publishing company Word Media Ltd. Whilst there Paul was appointed non-executive director for broadcaster Juice FM.
• Malcolm McLean OBE joined independent actuaries and consultants Barnett Waddingham as a consultant in April 2010. Before that, he was chief executive of the Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS) for the preceding 13 years. His earlier career was mainly spent as a civil servant working on pension policy in the delivery of benefits. For three years he was the general manager/secretary to the now defunct Occupational Pensions Board.
• Stella Okeahialam MBE is programme director at the Institute for Sustainability with responsibility for governance, implementation, quality and risk management of the institute's programmes and projects. Before joining the Institute for Sustainability, her roles included head of skills & employment at the London Development Agency (LDA) and director at Croydon Enterprise, an initiative aimed at developing and encouraging a new enterprise culture. Her previous experience includes delivering various strategic programmes in economic development, regeneration and community renewal. Stella has also worked in the banking and private healthcare sectors and served on a number of boards including the Croydon Savers Credit Union Ltd, Croydon Enterprise Loan Fund Ltd and Croydon Education Business Partnership.
• Doug Taylor is the financial services chief advocate at Which? where he co-ordinates the diverse strands of the Which? personal finance campaigns. Doug currently sits on a wide range of financial working groups representing Which? Doug is also a governor of the Pensions Policy Institute. Before moving to Which? Doug was the deputy chief executive of the British Society for Rheumatology, and before that the national director of the National Union of Students. He has extensive experience in the charity sector, including being a past trustee of a national charity concerned with the welfare of prisoners abroad, and was a past member of the Association of Chief Executives of National Voluntary Organisations.
• Wendy van den Hende is chair of Milton Keynes Citizens Advice Bureau and has served on the boards of a number of charities. She is also a non-executive director of The Share Republic. Until recently she was chief executive of pfeg, a post she held from 2000 to 2012. pfeg is a finance education charity in England that helps schools to plan and teach personal finance relevant to students’ lives and needs. pfeg’s projects have been funded by HSBC, the government and the Financial Services Authority as a key element in the UK’s national strategy on financial capability. Previously Wendy was chief executive for Parent Network, deputy director of the National Council for One Parent Families and interim director of the Camelot Foundation.   
• Toby Vintcent is a former director of Merrill Lynch Investment Managers where he was a member communication specialist for defined contribution (DC) schemes. During his 18-year career with Merrill Lynch, he was an investment manager and analyst, running £1.8 billion of private client portfolios, and was one of the company’s key public speakers. Outside his professional career, Toby has been chairman of the London Conservative Party. Until November 2011, he was director of the British Equestrian Federation with responsibility for the preparation of Team GB’s equestrian team for the London 2012 Olympic Games.