Mark Fawcett, the first CIO of U.K. defined contribution workplace multiemployer plan National Employment Savings Trust, London, is the latest recipient of the U.K. Order of the British Empire.
As part of King Charles III's birthday honors, Mr. Fawcett was given the award to recognize his contributions to retirement savings.
Mr. Fawcett has led the development and growth of NEST, the U.K.'s largest master trust, following the automatic-enrollment reform under the Pensions Act 2008, which resulted in 12 million people enrolling in the plan.
NEST was the first U.K. master trust to give plan participants access to private markets in 2019.
Commenting on the award, Mr. Fawcett, who served as NEST's CIO for 14 years, said in an email: "I see this award as recognition for the ground-breaking and innovative work everyone at NEST has done over the years to improve retirement outcomes for our 12 million members."
"I've been involved in investments for over 35 years, but my work leading NEST's investment is the first time I feel I've been making a valuable contribution to society. We're helping give U.K. workers access to investments previously out of reach to them, disrupting the pension saving industry so it's not just focused on the wealthiest individuals," he added.
Elizabeth Fernando took over as CIO of the £30 billion ($37.7 billion) NEST on May 1. Mr. Fawcett remains CEO of NEST Invest (NEST's investment subsidiary), as well as a member of the executive committee of NEST Corp. (which is the trustee for the plan), and managing director of its investment function and is responsible for the overall management of NEST's investment operation.
