Nest continues to deliver during Covid-19 after year of growth

Nest has today published its 2019/20 annual report and accounts for Nest Corporation and the Nest pension scheme, which highlight the continuity of service it has delivered to customers through the initial stages of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This follows a year of growth in which the scheme saw an average of 9,000 employers sign up every month.

Commenting on the reports, Helen Dean CBE, Nest’s Chief Executive Officer, said:
‘From our first member contribution of £19 in 2011 through to managing the pension savings of more than 9 million members, I have seen Nest transform from a start-up into one of the largest defined contribution master trust pension schemes in the UK.

‘Our strong foundations and sense of purpose were vital in our response to the emerging Covid-19 crisis. I have never been more proud of my entire team at Nest, and our service partners, who mobilised quickly to ensure all our operations functioned well throughout lockdown, allowing us to support our customers through these uncertain times.

‘We were able to do this while prioritising the mental and physical well-being of our staff in extremely tough circumstances.

‘With forecasts showing one third of the working population is expected to have a Nest pension pot by the late 2020s, our focus is to build upon the success of auto enrolment and help our members, both through the Covid-19 crisis and the long term, prepare for a better retirement.’

Otto Thoresen, Chair of Nest Corporation, said:
‘As long-term investors, incorporating environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors is integral to the investment management process.

‘We’ve strengthened our own investment governance by the appointment of two new independent members of our Investment Committee. And we have announced our intention to remove tobacco investments from the scheme’s funds.

‘We’ve also set up Nest Invest, our FCA authorised subsidiary to prepare us for future growth. We expect to be investing around £100bn on behalf of members by the end of the decade.’

Information contained within the reports include (as at 31 March 2020):

• Nest was managing £9.5 billion on behalf of approximately 9.1 million members and 803,000 employers. This is compared to £5.7 billion, 7.9 million members and 720,000 employers for the same time last year.
• The Nest 2040 Retirement Date Fund has achieved an investment return of 4.6 per cent (net of Nest’s annual management charge) annualised over the last five years. The latest data shows five year returns to the end of June 2020 are now up to 7.9%.
• 47 per cent of our members are female, 53 per cent are male.
• The Nest scheme saw average inflows of £400m per month in new contributions this year.
• 9,000 new employers joined Nest on average each month.
• Nest invested more than £1.3 billion in the Climate Aware Fund, up from £600 million in September 2018.
• Our members’ investments in the Climate Aware Fund have avoided global carbon emissions equivalent to taking 53,902 cars off the road or planting 82,496 trees.