NEST is signing up around 1,000 employers a day
20 July 2017
This year has been the busiest to date for the NEST Corporation with more than 240,000 new employers and 1.5 million new members joining NEST’s pension scheme.
NEST has published its annual report and accounts for 2016/17, along with the annual report and accounts 2016/17 for the NEST pension scheme.
Highlights from the reports include:
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During the year, NEST received a Defaqto 5-star rating as an auto enrolment provider and won eight industry awards
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NEST reached its five year investing anniversary in July 2016 and has reported that long term returns for members are comfortably on track – annualised five year performance in the growth phase of the NEST Retirement Date Funds was 11.3 per cent, compared to a benchmark of 4.5 per cent
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NEST published its first responsible investment report, Working for change, in August 2016 which reported to members and stakeholders how NEST is taking an active and responsible role as a steward of assets on behalf of its membership
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NEST Corporation signed up to the Women in Finance Charter and has set itself the target that by autumn 2019 at least 30 per cent of its executive and director roles will be held by women
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During the year the DWP moved to allow employers to contractually enrol workers into NEST, following a call for evidence on NEST: evolving for the future. NEST welcomed this change, which removes a source of confusion and administrative burden for employers already using NEST
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As at the end of March 2017 the average opt out rate was 8 per cent on average, and lower for younger members
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As at 2 July 2017 there are over 398,000 employers signed up to NEST, plus over 3,700 self-employed members. There are now in excess of 5 million individual members, with NEST looking after £1.8 billion on their behalf
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There are over 16,500 NEST Connectors. NEST Connect is an online hub for professionals who are offering auto enrolment services to employers. It’s an ideal solution for financial advisers, accountants and payroll providers (and it’s free)
Following an independent assessment by KPMG, NEST has also published its third master trust assurance report revealing a clean bill of health. The reporting accountant confirmed that the NEST scheme’s internal controls have met the quality standards set by The Pensions Regulator (TPR) and have operated effectively over the period of the report.