Tim Jones says his future as Nest chief executive will be decided “early next year” at a meeting of the Government-backed pension scheme’s trustee board.
In an interview with Money Marketing, Jones (pictured) admits there are “good arguments” for him stepping aside as chief executive when his contract runs out in early 2014.
He says: “There are good arguments for saying I should step away and let someone else be chief executive and there are good arguments for me staying. In the end that is the trustees’ decision.
“My contract runs until early 2014 and I do not intend to go anywhere at the moment, but it will be for the trustees to decide early next year what they want to do.”
Jones also outlined the argument against retaining the £4,400 contribution cap and ban on transfers in and out ahead of summer 2014, when tens of thousands of employers are expected to begin auto-enrolment.
Jones says: “When you get to the 20,000-plus firms who will enter the system in summer 2014, about a quarter of them are no-brainers – everybody would want to have them.
“But it is not going to be like that right the way through. If you think about a successful plumbing business with 200 employees, the average wage is going to be lower and you will have lots of people earning around the minimum wage.
“They are fundamentally less attractive to the private sector. Given that fact, wouldn’t it make sense to give them a clean option to consider on its own, regardless of whether they have a couple of people above the cap or a few DC schemes they want to consolidate?
“Wouldn’t it be sensible to give them an opportunity to look at Nest on exactly the same footing as they would look at any other scheme?”
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