Talking head: As its membership hits 1m, Nest CEO Tim Jones reflects on the challenges presented by the state-sponsored pension scheme's ever-expanding scale.
To date, more than 4,500 employers have enrolled their workers into Nest and this year the number of employers using the scheme is likely to grow by many more thousands.
We want our members to be able to access their retirement pots in ways that help them meet their aspirations
We want our members to be able to access their retirement pots in ways that help them meet their aspirations.
We’re proud to be playing our part in ensuring auto-enrolment is a success and we’re delighted the response is continuing to be positive.
Across the industry more than 3m workers have been auto-enrolled and opt-out rates remain low. All of this indicates workplace pensions are truly becoming the norm and that’s fantastic news for savers.
It’s important to recognise that these achievements have been possible because of collaboration across the industry.
This includes not only pension providers, but payroll suppliers, financial advisers and other intermediaries, in addition to the thousands of employers that have staged. Working together has been and continues to be central to the success of the reforms.
For Nest, reaching this milestone was an important moment, but we’re mindful there’s a lot more to do to make sure the millions more who are yet to be enrolled get a helping hand to save for their future.
We have always placed great importance on understanding our members and potential members so that we can develop a scheme around their best interests.
We have conducted extensive research looking at the characteristics, needs, attitudes and behaviour of the new wave of pension savers auto-enrolment is creating, and used this to inform the development of our scheme.
Changes to the ways in which consumers are able to access their pension savings, in addition to how they may need or want to access them, mean providers need to review how we manage members’ risks and invest their money – particularly as they come up to retirement.
We want our members to be able to access their retirement pots in ways that help them meet their aspirations and provide the flexibility they need in later life.
The changes set out by the Treasury in this area are substantial and Nest is giving them the careful consideration they deserve.
Our overriding concern is to act in our members’ best interests and that will drive how we progress as a scheme.
As we develop our thinking in light of the government’s announced changes, we plan to consult widely to ensure we bring the best ideas to bear on delivering appropriate solutions to our members.
Tim Jones is CEO at Nest