Summary of the minutes: 16 NOVEMBER 2023
|
All members of the Committee were present. |
Governance
The Committee considered a report introduced by Michael Burton and resolved to note the Pension Board appointments, note the McCloud updated and the 2023 award for best LGPS Governance.
PENSIONS ADMIN
The Committee received a similar report to that
presented at Board and noted the updates.
Annual Report and Accounts Report
The Committee considered a report and approved the Annual Report and Accounts 2022/23. The annual report will be published on 1 December 2023 and will include the policies when published. The Audit was positive for the team and the Committee noted the draft Independent Auditor’s (Grant Thornton – GT) report to those charged with governance on Pension Fund Accounts 2022/23.
Q2 Budget Monitoring Report
The Committee received a similar report to that presented at Board and noted the update on the 2022/23 Quarter 2 Forecast Outturn Position and 2023/24 Outturn.
Internal Audit report
The Committee received a similar report to that presented at Board and noted the Internal Audit Report of the outcome of the Pension Fund - Collection of Contributions audit.
Annual Training Plan
The Committee considered a similar report to that presented at Board and noted the update on training needs and planned events.
Risk Register
The Committee considered and noted a report. The increased risk Cyber attack was discussed.
Investment
The Committee considered and noted an Investment Report from Officers and ISIO (Investment Advisers). It covered the investment workplan for the next 12 months.
Due to the timing of the November meeting the usual Quarterly Performance Report for Q3 2023 was not ready, so Isio provided a summarised version of the report for Pension Committee.
The quarters investment returns were disappointing, however the longer term returns at Fund level remain robust, with private equity assets adding significant value. The Fund is a long-term investor and short term volatility or negative performance is not unusual or concerning at this stage. UK equities performed well, largely driven by the energy market, with the sector benefitting from a rise in the oil price.
The Committee noted that the benchmark of the current asset allocation of the Fund has now been updated following the strategy day in July however more recent acquisitions are judged against a different benchmark which makes it hard judge performance consistently.
The Carbon Foot printing data was previously produced by a difficult company so it is very difficult to compare data however the Committee should have sight of it, the data is incorporated in the TCFD based reporting within the Annual Report. In future some analysis of the data will be provided with the report but hard to demonstrate the position of the Fund at this time.
WORK PROGRAM
The upcoming work program was noted.
EXEMPT ITEMS
A number of items were discussed under the Exempt part of the meeting which Board Members can have access to on request. These included the Funds allocation to Index Linked Gilts, information on the operator of the ACCESS Pool, additional exempt risks on the Risk Register, the Breaches Log and the Admissions and Cessations Report.