Nest Invest’s chief executive Mark Fawcett has been an awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) for services to pension saving in King Charles’s first birthday honours list.
Fawcett is a former chief investment officer of Nest who joined in 2008, helping to design and shape the pension provider’s investment strategy, which has included a strong commitment to ESG principles.
He has overseen an exponential growth of assets in the master trust, which started with a £19 contribution in 2011 to stand at £30bn today. Nest was set by the government as a workplace pension provider under the AE reforms and will accept all employers, regardless of size, sector or contribution levels.
Fawcett says he was “both surprised and delighted” at the news. “I see this award as recognition for the ground-breaking and innovative work everyone at Nest has done over the years to improve retirement outcomes for our 12 million members.
“I’ve been involved in investments for over 35 years, but my work leading Nest’s investment is the first time I feel I’ve been making a valuable contribution to society. We’re helping give UK workers access to investments previously out of reach to them, disrupting the pension saving industry so it’s not just focused on the wealthiest individuals.”
He adds: “These are exciting times for Nest. We’ve created a sophisticated investment portfolio which includes financing new infrastructure projects, including solar and wind farms, and we’ll be investing in fast growing technology and biotech companies not just here in the UK but around the world.”
