Morten Nilsson, chief executive officer of NOW: Pensions, is being replaced by Troy Clutterbuck, the UK defined contribution master trust provider announced today.

Nilsson exits the firm having led NOW: Pensions as CEO since its launch in 2011.

Clutterbuck is currently chief financial officer at NOW: Pensions, and will act as its CEO on an interim basis, the company said. He joined the provider in August last year from Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group, where had been for 15 years. 

NOW: Pensions was established by Danish pension fund ATP in 2011 to take advantage of the rollout of auto-enrolment in the UK. Nilsson, who was head of ATP’s international operations in Copenhagen at the time, relocated to London to set up ATP’s UK operations.

In a statement, the UK provider thanked Nilsson for his “significant contribution in building NOW: Pensions from the ground up to its current position as a leading provider of pensions in the auto enrolment marketplace”.

NOW: Pensions has more than 1.3m members and more than 26,000 participating employers. It is among the largest master trust providers in the UK, alongside The People’s Pension and government-backed NEST.

Nigel Waterson, the chairman of the board of trustees, said: “Morten Nilsson has made a huge contribution not only to the success of NOW: Pensions, but to the whole automatic enrolment project in the UK.

“He leaves an indelible legacy in the UK pensions sector.”

Last month NOW: Pensions withdrew itself from the Pensions Regulator’s (TPR) “assurance list” of auto-enrolment providers because of problems relating to processing contributions for some of its clients. TPR had been reviewing the provider’s inclusion on the list due to concerns about the governance and administration of the scheme.

Asked if Nilsson’s departure was in any way linked to the issues that led to NOW: Pensions withdrawing from the list of assured providers, a spokesperson said: “Clearly it was disappointing to have to withdraw from the list of providers with master trust assurance but there were a number of reasons behind the decision to appoint Troy and as the first phase of auto enrolment approaches its conclusion, the board felt that the time was right to make this change in executive management.”

The spokesperson added: “It’s important to recognise that Morten has achieved a great deal during his time with NOW: Pensions taking the company from a standing start to one of the largest auto-enrolment providers in the UK.” 

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