Winners' Thoughts 2016

National Employment Savings Trust (NEST)

European Pension Fund of the Year and Small Pension Fund 2016
 “This is a major coup for NEST. To be selected as best in Europe at these prestigious and well-regarded
awards is testament to how far we’ve come in just five years of investing. This recognition will prompt pension professionals across Europe  to reconsider how they view NEST’s investment approach.”
Mark Fawcett, Chief Investment Officer

Ärzteversorgung Westfalen-Lippe

Germany (Versorgungswerk), Infrastructure and Fixed Income 2016
"We were very pleased to win three trophies at the IPE Awards 2016. These awards, which are based
on the reviews of international and independent judging panels, are an external
recognition that we have drafted the appropriate strategy."
Andreas Kretschmer, Chief Executive Officer​

RetireSmart (ESB Defined Contribution Pension Scheme) 

Ireland 2016
"We are delighted to have won the IPE award for Best Pension Fund in Ireland, particularly as it is an
award judged by our peers. The award represents recognition of all the hard work done
in rebranding and reshaping the ESB DC Scheme into RetireSmart."
Paul Duignan, Pension Service Manager

Church Commissioners for England

Climate Related Risk Management, ESG and Real Estate 2016
“The IPE Awards are an invaluable opportunity for us to benchmark our work against our peers
across Europe. The judges are leaders in their fields, and there is no better organisation to
coordinate such a well-regarded event as IPE. We were delighted to take part.”
Edward Mason, Head of Responsible Investment

APK Pensionskasse

Austria (Pensionskasse) 2016
"Winning an IPE Award helps us raise the awareness of APK, set our company apart from our competitors and differentiate the quality of our achievements. The IPE Awards also recognise and reward the efforts of our
company and staff, which ultimately supports our effort to make APK and our services more visible."​
Christian Böhm, Chief Executive Officer

Trafalgar House Pension Trust 

Risk Management 2016
"The trustee directors are clear that excellence in the area of risk management is key to sustaining the Trust. To be publicly recognised in a peer review for our work in this area is a major achievement. We hope it also a comfort
to the members that the investment actions of their trustees are accorded such high regard.”
Paul Haines, Chief Investment Officer

SPK 

Sweden 2016
"The IPE Conference and Awards is the main European event for meeting colleagues and sharing of ideas. The professional panels of judges selecting us over our peers in recognition of the innovative ways
we provide pensions is the ideal confirmation that we are on the right track.”
Peter Hansson, Chief Executive Officer

Merchant Navy Officers Pension Fund 

Long-Term Investment Strategy 2016
"This prestigious award is testimony to the MNOPF’s high standards of governance, investment strategy
and risk management. As a result, our members enjoy greater security of their pensions and
our employers are benefitting from significant savings in pension contributions.”
Phil Boyle, Communications Director

Pensions Caixa 30

Spain (corporate scheme) 2016
"Pensions Caixa 30 has a clear and concise strategic long-term objective, but we are always evolving as we
do not want to settle for what has been accomplished so far. This 5th award in six years is an example of 
the ongoing development of our pension fund and we hope we continue to show that year after year."
Jordi Jofra, President, Comisión de Control PPE CaixaBank

Swedbank Pension Plan Dinamika 

Central & Eastern Europe 2016
"We are very proud of this industry recognition. It shows we are on the right track and did the right thing by dropping the index approach to our fixed income portfolios and realigning our efforts towards alternative investments. These initiatives have contributed favourably to the performance and the perception of the Latvian pension system.​"
Peteris Stepins, Director