Episode 4: Bonus: Always a Pensions Angle: Nick Dixon of Avon Pension Fund - Engagement, Purpose, Practice
The Fiftyfaces PodcastShow Notes
This podcast is released as part of a collaboration between Fiftyfaces Productions and the Always a Pensions Angle Podcast produced by DG Publishing. Nick Dixon is Head of Pensions, Avon Pension Fund, which he has led since 2022. Avon Pension Fund serves c.140,000 members in the public sector across Bristol, Bath and surrounding areas and is now a partner fund of Local Pensions Partnership. Previously Nick advised private sector wealth platforms on their pensions and investment proposition. He was CIO of Aegon UK from 2013-21, focused on DC workplace pensions. From 2001-13 Nick was Marketing Director for wealth & pensions platform Quilter.
Our conversation has a particular focus on an engagement exercise that Avon conducted around the fund's investment in aerospace and defence companies. Nick explained that during 2024 and 2025 the fund received a lot of petitions from its members who were deeply concerned about the war in Gaza, and the indirect role of aerospace and defence companies in supplying Israel. In response to that, a critical stakeholder issue, they conducted a survey of all members. We opened up the issue to bring out a set of trade-offs, including the importance of NATO defence, the concern about arms impacts on the environment, the fact that they kill innocent civilians.
The consultation had reasonable engagement - with 11% of the fund members responding, and the result was that 42% wanted to divest, about 47% said they’d like to remain invested, and about 11% said they didn’t know. The fund did not consider this a clear mandate to divest – and therefore decided to remain invested.
We discuss the importance of engagement generally as well as this critical, sometimes emotive, issue, which has emerged for many local authority pension funds. We reflect on whether surveys and engagement in this way could be a way forward for other funds in the future as these issues continue to gain traction with the underlying beneficiaries and stakeholders.
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