Director of Public and Private Markets in London

Nest Invest is a leader on driving up standards and best practices across the industry, delivering a high-quality, low-cost pension scheme, open to all. At c. £67bn AUM and taking in £600m of monthly pension contributions from 14 million members, Nest plays a critical role in helping people save for their retirement, many of them low to moderate earners who may be saving for the first time and moving jobs frequently.

The Nest investment team is responsible for investing members’ contributions in order to grow their retirement pots over the long-term. We’re building a capability and culture that embraces innovation, leverages technology, and harnesses the power of data to deliver exceptional outcomes for our members. Nest Invest currently outsources the implementation of most investment decisions to external Investment Managers. As our portfolio expands, we intend to internally manage more of the investment decision making and process, whilst concurrently engaging with a broader range of external partners.

The Role

Reporting to the CIO and as an active member of Nest Invest’s Senior Management Team, the Director of Public & Private Markets is responsible for leading and evolving the implementation of Nest’s portfolios across all asset classes. Nest uses a Total Portfolio approach, directing capital to the asset classes most likely to achieve each portfolio’s objectives. The post holder will work collaboratively with the Long-Term Strategy, Responsible Investment and Investment Risk teams to develop Nest’s investible universe and then considers how best to access each asset class to achieve Nest’s investment objectives. Ultimately leading the selection and ongoing monitoring and oversight of Nest’s external investment managers.

The team (20) currently manages c. £67bn of assets and is organised into areas of specialisation across private & public market asset classes. The areas operate with a high degree of autonomy but with a strong culture of collaboration that ensures best outcomes for members under the Total Portfolio Approach. The Director of Public & Private Markets will be a passionate people leader able to empower and develop this team into a cohesive and high performing investment function.

The Person

We are looking for an exceptional investment leader that will play a key role in realising the very best investment outcomes for our members and continually evolve Nest Invest’s approach to implementation across all asset classes. To ensure success, we are looking for:

• Experience leading the implementation of a long term investment strategy for an Asset Manager / Owner across public and/or private markets at significant scale.
• Extensive knowledge of either investing through and developing sustainable partnerships with external fund managers, or within an Asset Manager that invests on behalf of institutional customers.
• Exceptional people leader with a passion and ability to develop high performing investment teams, as well as a culture of collaboration and integrity.
• Able to evolve and develop the public and private markets function ensuring strong collaboration between asset classes in support of the Total Portfolio approach.
• Interest and aptitude to play an active part of the SLT contributing to the wider business strategy, developing the internal culture and ensuring best outcomes for pension members.

This is a genuinely rare opportunity to play a lead role in the evolution and success of what will be one of the largest asset owners globally and to have a positive impact on the future prosperity of over 14 million pension members.

Organisational Overview

Nest is an award-winning workplace pension scheme, the largest in the country. Set up by the government to give every worker in the UK somewhere to save, our first-class responsible investment practice and governance are the backbone of what we do, supported by all the functions you’d expect to find in a thriving business. We’re committed to creating a workplace where you can be your authentic self and offer an inclusive and flexible working environment.

Flexible and agile working

Everyone's personal situation is different. To make the most out of hybrid working, we've introduced different ways of working, which include (subject to role requirements):

• Hybrid of office (Canary Wharf, London) and home working (there will be an expectation to attend the office, twice a week, or more, as required)
• Reduce or vary working hours
• Reduce or vary the days worked
• Work compressed hours
• Job share

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Everyone is welcome to apply for our roles and we particularly encourage applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnicity, LGBTQ+, and disabled candidates. We are determined to ensure that no applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment because of their age, belief, disability, gender identity, marital status, national origin, pregnancy or caring responsibilities, socio economic background, sex, sexual orientation, religion or race or any other legally protected status. We also recognise the importance of diversity of thought and other forms of neurocognitive variation. As a Level 2 Disability Confident organisation, we’re part of the guaranteed interview scheme. This means should you meet the minimum criteria for this role, you will automatically be put forward for an interview.

Please note that this advert may close early if we receive a sufficient number of satisfactory applications.