NEST Corporation has appointed the fund managers for its first five mandates. BlackRock, UBS and State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) will manage the funds which provide the building blocks for the NEST yearly target date funds.

The first building block of the default fund, passive global equities, will be managed by UBS Global Asset Management Life Ltd. Their UBS Life World Equity Tracker fund tracks the FTSE All-World Developed Index.

SSgA won the passive UK gilts and passive UK index-linked gilts mandates, with its State Street UK Conventional Gilts All Stocks Index Fund and State Street UK Index-Linked Gilts over 5 Years Index Fund respectively.

The mandate for the sterling cash building block went to BlackRock’s Aquila Cash Fund. BlackRock also won the mandate for NEST’s diversified beta fund. Through the Aquila Life Market Advantage Fund, it will invest in a wide range of asset classes, primarily through Blackrock’s range of pooled index funds.

At the announcement of the appointments, Mark Fawcett, chief investment officer at NEST, said that the search for the right fund managers wasn’t just about prices, but about building good relationships with their managers. “There was a healthy competition and that has led to a good outcome,” he said.

The mandates have not been awarded for a particular time and Fawcett said NEST will continue to track the risk.

Tim Jones, NEST chief executive, said: “Today’s announcement demonstrates that NEST is on track. We are getting the infrastructure in place now so that we can test the systems and be ready to accept our first contributions later this year. I am really pleased with the quality of the managers who want to work with us. We are gathering together an impressive collection of global leaders to work with us to deliver NEST.”

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