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Pensions

Nest to Acquire 10% Stake in IFM Investors in Alts Buildout

The U.K. pension scheme aims to invest $6.24 billion through IFM by 2030.
By Matt Toledo

The National Employment Savings Trust of the U.K. announced Tuesday it will take a 10% stake in Industry Super Holdings, the parent company of IFM Investors, an asset management firm founded and owned by Australian pension funds. 

Nest, the largest pension fund in the U.K. by members, noted in a press release that the pension fund will primarily invest in IFM’s alternate asset investments.

As part of the strategic partnership, Nest plans to invest in IFM’s infrastructure, debt and private equity strategies and increase its allocation to private markets to 30%, up from 17% today.

“Our new partnership with IFM demonstrates our ongoing commitment to using every tool in our toolbox to boost our members’ risk-adjusted returns,” said Nest Chair Brendan McCafferty in a statement. “Together with IFM, we’ll be able to further enhance our sophisticated investment options for everyday UK pension savers, aiming to help them build a more secure retirement.”

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Nest, a public corporation founded in 2008, manages 45.3 billion pounds ($56.19 billion) in assets for 13.7 million members in its defined contribution pension; approximately one in three workers in the U.K. is expected to be a member of Nest by the end of the decade. U.K. pension regulations require employers to automatically enroll most workers into a pension plan. 

IFM is currently owned by 16 Australian superannuation funds, which collectively manage 580 billion pounds ($724 billion), according to the announcement. Nest also announced its intention to invest 5 billion pounds by 2030 through IFM in private market investments in the U.K. and worldwide. IFM had $107 billion in assets under management at the end of 2024 and 13 offices around the world, including one in London.

“Nest will support IFM’s further expansion into new investment opportunities and markets across the globe, bringing UK expertise into IFM’s ownership group, as we seek to give pension fund members greater access to global markets that have the potential to deliver risk-adjusted returns for their retirement,” said IFM Investors CEO David Neal in a statement.

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Home > News > Corporate Moves > Vanguard Announces Fee Reductions Across 108 ETFs
Corporate Moves

Vanguard Announces Fee Reductions Across 108 ETFs

According to the firm, the reduction is its largest fee cut to date.
By Remy Samuels

The Vanguard Group Inc. announced Monday that it has reduced fees on 168 share classes, including 108 ETF share classes, of 87 investment funds in what the firm called its largest fee cut to date. Vanguard offered 428 funds worldwide—212 in the U.S.—as of the end of 2023, according to its website.

The firm projects that the overall fee reductions will save investors of all kinds more than $350 million this year alone. Of the mutual funds with reduced fees, 48 include institutional or institutional plus share classes. The fee reductions for these share classes ranged from one to five basis points. 

Over the past 10 years, ETF usage by pension funds, endowments, foundations and sovereign wealth funds has increased fourfold, with most of that growth coming in the three years through 2024, according to data from S&P Dow Jones Indices. As of the end of 2023, institutional asset owners had $56 billion invested in ETFs, the firm reported.

“Lower fees mean fund investors can keep more of their returns and a competitive edge for our funds,” said Greg Davis, Vanguard’s president and chief investment officer, in a press release. “When you think about our actively managed funds, our managers don’t have to take unnecessary risk to earn back our fees. Our financial model and structure [create] a virtuous cycle of economies of scale, where we can continue to reduce fees and invest in things like technology and talent.” 

The prospectuses of all affected funds were updated Monday in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to Vanguard’s announcement. 

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Expense ratios may cover investment advisory fees, marketing and distribution expenses, brokerage fees and custodial, transfer agency, legal and accounting fees, according to Vanguard. The full list of funds with reduced fees can be found here. 

The company had about $10.4 trillion in assets under management, as of November 30, 2024. At the end of 2023, it had approximately $8.6 trillion in assets under management worldwide. 

The move to lower fees come less than one year after Vanguard announced that Salim Ramji, the former head of BlackRock Inc. iShares, would take over as the firm’s CEO, succeeding Tim Buckley, who retired at the end of 2024.

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