Nest has announced its first-ever Member Assembly, which aims to put members at the centre of shaping the workplace pension scheme’s investment approach.

The Member Assembly intends to bring together a diverse group of the scheme’s savers, which Nest said were selected to reflect the scheme’s membership, to discuss and make recommendations on key issues affecting their pensions.

Specifically, it will consider which member values and considerations should guide Nest’s investment decisions, how Nest should exercise ownership rights on behalf of members, and what kind of involvement and information members should have when deliberating on investment matters.

The assembly was designed in partnership with senior research fellow and lecturer in sustainability, Dr Emmeline Cooper, with oversight from an external advisory group of academics and practitioners and informed by the latest thinking in financial governance.

Over two weekend sessions, assembly members will hear from independent experts, deliberate on complex topics, and develop recommendations for Nest’s leadership.

The Members' Panel, chaired by Charles Pears, closely supported the assembly’s creation, and its recommendations will aid the panel’s ongoing advocacy for member perspectives.

Recommendations from the assembly will also inform Nest’s ongoing decision-making on
how it invests and acts as an active and responsible asset owner.

Commenting on the assembly’s launch, Nest chief executive, Ian Cornelius, said: “We’re excited to give our members a direct voice in decisions that affect their financial future.

“The Member Assembly is a bold step towards making pensions more democratic, inclusive, and responsive to the needs of our members.”

Nest Members’ Panel chair and participant on the external advisory group, Charles Pears, added that the creation of the assembly “showed how seriously” Nest took its savers' views.

“We are grateful for members taking time out of their busy lives to come together and share directly what really matters to them,” he continued.

“Their willingness to explore complex issues in an informed and thoughtful way gives Nest valuable insight.

“Nest is strengthening the link between its investment decisions and the priorities of the people whose futures depend on Nest.”

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