NEST hires former Pension Protection Fund manager as deputy CIO

The National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) has hired John St Hill as deputy CIO, a newly created role.

St Hill joins from the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), where he was a senior portfolio manager.

He left the UK’s lifeboat fund for defined benefit schemes in October last year.

He will report to Mark Fawcett, NEST’s CIO.

Fawcett said: “We’re already looking after more than £1.3bn [€1.5bn] on behalf of our members, and that’s set to grow rapidly over the next few years. With this appointment, we’re adding to the expertise and experience of the investment team at this crucial time.”

St Hill added: “NEST’s investment team have built a really strong, award-winning investment approach. I’m looking forward to working with Mark Fawcett as the organisation continues to focus on giving its members a better income in retirement.”

While running equity and bond investments at the PPF, St Hill helped establish the fund’s smart-beta programme, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Prior to joining the PPF in 2010, St Hill worked at fiduciary manager SEI Investments.

He held senior roles including head of fixed income and head of risk management.

NEST, a defined contribution fund, was established in 2008 as a UK government-backed vehicle for its auto-enrolment pension policy.

At the end of March 2016, the fund had more than 3m members.

The fund won Best European Pension Fund and Best Small Pension Fund at the IPE Awards in Berlin last month.