NEST launches Ethical Fund Brochure for Good Money Week

NEST is today launching an Ethical Fund Brochure setting out the ethical policy that underlines the NEST Ethical Fund for the first time.

The policy, which draws on research of the ethical concerns of NEST’s target market, reveals that upholding human rights and labour standards, such as around the use of child or forced labour, are among the top priority considerations for the NEST Ethical Fund.

‘Ethics are always difficult to pin down. What matters most to one person won’t necessarily be the top priority for another. That’s why we’ve tried to understand the concerns of our members as well as looked at international best practice and standards to create the framework for our NEST Ethical Fund. It turned out that some of the things that have traditionally been the cornerstones of screening ethical investments may not be as important to people as wider social and global issues’ said Paul Todd, assistant director of investment at NEST.

NEST is launching the Ethical Fund Brochure to coincide with Good Money Week in recognition of the growth in the ethical consumer market, which has more than tripled in size since 1999 to £54bn in 2013¹.

Commenting, Paul Todd said, ‘Even throughout the recession, consumers have been demanding more and more ethical products and have been holding suppliers to higher standards. This trend may not have translated into people’s pension fund choices yet, but we’re pretty certain we’re going to start to see this more and more in future.

‘Automatic enrolment is making pension saving a mainstream activity. As people become more engaged with the connection between how they shop and where they invest their money, they’re going to start demanding high quality ethical funds that don’t force savers to compromise between their values and their prospects in retirement.’

The NEST Ethical Fund is the only ethical fund option in the UK that has both a dynamic multi-asset allocation and a three-phase risk lifecycle.  

The full Ethical Fund Brochure can be found here.

Key facts about NEST:

• The government is currently introducing reforms that mean employers will have to automatically enrol most of their workers into a workplace pension scheme that meets or exceeds certain standards. They’ll also need to make a minimum contribution for many of these workers.
• NEST, which was established by government as part of these reforms, is a national defined contribution workplace pension scheme available to all employers to use to meet their new duties. It is designed around the needs of people who are largely new to pension saving, with clear communications, low charges and easy online tools and services. It is run as a trust-based scheme, on a not-for-profit basis, and the trustee has a legal duty to act in its members’ interests.
• NEST has a public service obligation to accept any employer (whatever their size) who wants to use the scheme to meet their duties, as a sole scheme or alongside other provision.

NEST’s investment approach - key features:

1. unique default option comprising of 47 single-year target date funds, risk managed for each year of retirement
2. focused fund range including Ethical, Sharia, Lower Growth and Higher Risk options with the same low charge as the default
3. sophisticated risk management driven by innovative investment techniques, high quality analysis and transparent governance
4. cost-efficient delivery of bespoke solutions powered by leading global fund managers
5. clear investment communications designed with and for members, employers and their advisers.

¹Ethical Consumer Markets Report 2013