MAKE A

DIFFERENCE

About the role

What does a good Trustee look like?

The Trustee Board represents thousands of diverse Fund members and we think an effective Board reflects this wide range of people. There’s no one example of what an ideal candidate should look like, but we think the following characteristics help make a great Trustee.

Watch this video to hear more from Steve (the Chair of the Trustee Board) about what we’re looking for.

What does the role involve?

As a Trustee, you’ll be part of a team of people responsible for overseeing the running of the Fund and safeguarding it on behalf of its members and beneficiaries.

34,000+ members in the Fund

With the help of the Fund’s advisers and administrators, the Trustee Board makes sure that contributions are made to the Fund, its assets invested and member benefits are paid correctly and on time. To do this, they need to ensure that:

• The Fund is run in line with its own rules and current pension law;
• The Fund’s assets are invested appropriately and are held as securely as possible;
• Members are notified of Fund developments so that they can make informed decisions about their benefits; and
• They act in the best interests of all beneficiaries of the Fund.

As a Trustee, your role is to consider the interests of all members. This may sometimes involve having to weigh the interests of a particular individual against the need to protect the security of the membership as a whole.

Hear more from Steve below about what a Trustee is, and watch Irene's video to hear her role described in three words.

Who can apply?

£4.4bnof assets managed by the Fund

We currently have vacancies for active and pensioner members of the Fund so you must be a current UK employee and a member of the Fund or a retired UK employee and a member of the Fund to apply.

• If you are a deferred member of the Fund, you cannot apply for the role.
• If you are a dependant pensioner member of the Fund (i.e. if you have never worked for Nestlé but you are in receipt of benefits from the Fund on behalf of a deceased relative who was a member), you are also unable to apply for the role as you have never been a Nestlé employee.
• As the Fund does not represent Nestlé Ireland members, members of the Irish Section of the Nestlé European Pension Fund are unable to apply.

There are also certain legal restrictions that disqualify someone from being a Trustee (for example, you cannot be an undischarged bankrupt or have been found guilty of any criminal act of dishonesty or deception).

Please note that if you’re an active member you would need to resign as a Trustee if you left Nestlé’s employment to retire or work somewhere else.

What do Trustees need to know?

You do not need to be a pension expert to be a Trustee and we don’t expect people to come to the Board with lots of expertise from the get-go. However, anyone applying should be willing to train and learn in order to do the best job possible as a Trustee. It’s important that people are committed to the role and willing to dedicate time to learning what is needed in order to carry out the duties of a Trustee. For example, this might mean learning about relevant pension and trust laws as well as about the principles of funding pension schemes and investing their assets. As part of this training you will be required to complete The Pension Regulator’s ‘Trustee toolkit’ within six months of your appointment. The Trustee toolkit includes a series of online learning modules and downloadable resources developed to help you meet the minimum level of knowledge and understanding needed to be a Trustee.

Hear what advice Irene has to offer those thinking about applying below. You can also hear about a 'typical Trustee journey' from Steve too.

What’s involved?

15+investment managers working on behalf of the Fund

As a Trustee you will attend four Board meetings a year (these are held virtually or in London). You’ll also be asked to sit on a sub-committee that deals with a specific, specialist subject, for example, a defined contribution sub-committee or a governance sub-committee. These sub-committees will also meet four times a year (normally a few weeks in advance of the main Board meetings). In addition there are a number of Trustee Working Groups that you might be asked to join. These deal with specific pension projects and could meet two or three times each quarter.

The Pensions Regulator also requires you to attain a certain level of knowledge and understanding in relation to the role and this could mean spending another one to two days a quarter on pension matters.

Before and after meetings there will be documents to read and review so you’ll need to spend time doing this as well as attending the meetings. You may also be asked to provide comments or make decisions by email or phone between meetings.

Roughly, in your first year, you can expect to have to spend the equivalent of up to eight days each quarter on Trustee matters.

Hear more about the Trustee Board meetings from Steve.

Is it a paid position?

You will be reimbursed for all reasonable travel and accommodation expenses incurred in the course of your duties as a Trustee. Pensioner member Trustees will additionally receive an honorarium (a small payment typically used to help cover costs for volunteers). Other than expenses, active members will receive no additional remuneration but will be entitled to paid absence from their normal employment to attend Trustee meetings.