Agenda and minutes

24.1     The Committee agreed the minutes of the previous meeting as a correct record.

25.1     Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Earl.

25.2     Cllr Fox was present for items 6, 8, 9 and 12.

Disclosures by all Members present of personal interests in matters on the agenda, the nature of any interest and whether the Members regard the interest as prejudicial under the terms of the Code of Conduct.

26.1     There were no disclosures of interest.

Notification of items which the Chair considers to be urgent and proposes to take at the appropriate part of the agenda.

27.1     There were no urgent items.

5.1       The Committee considered the draft minutes of the Pension Board meeting held on 10 September.

5.2       The Committee RESOLVED to note the draft minutes.

• Review of the Investment Strategy Day Outcome

29.1     The Committee considered the Quarter 2 monitoring report by Hymans Robertson.

29.2     The Committee RESOLVED to note the report.

30.1     The Committee received a presentation from the investment fund manager Ruffer LLP.

31.1     The Committee considered a report on the Fund’s Investment Strategy Statement.

31.2     The Committee RESOLVED to:

1) approve the Investment Strategy Statement;

2) approve to disinvest 10% of the fund from equities and switch the proceeds into the M&G Alpha Opportunities Fund (5%), the Newton Real Return Fund (2.5%) and Ruffer mandate (2.5%).

32.1     The Committee considered an update on the Fund’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) approach towards investments.

32.2     The Committee welcomed the news that the East Sussex Pension Fund had been shortlisted for a Local Authority Pension Fund (LAPF) Investment Awards Best Approach to ESG/Impact Investing award, indicating that the Fund was more advanced than most other Local Government Pension Schemes in considering ESG factors such as commissioning an analyse of its carbon footprint; signing up to the UK Stewardship Code; and moving 5% of the Fund to the UBS Life Climate Aware World Equity Fund.

32.3     The Committee RESOLVED to note the report.

33.1     The Committee considered a report on the outcome of the Annual Benefit Statement 2018 exercise.

33.2     The Committee RESOLVED to:

1) note the report;

2) express regret that the statutory deadline for Annual Benefits Statements had been breached;

3) request a report at the next meeting on the outcome of reporting the breach to the Pensions Regulator; and

4) note that it may recommend the withdrawal from the Orbis partnership in the event of the failure to meet the Annual Benefit Statement in 2019.

34.1     The Committee considered a report providing an update on pension administration services provided by Orbis Business Operations.

34.2 The Committee RESOLVED to:

1) note the report;

2) approve the approach and expenditure described in section 4 relating to data reporting to the Pensions Regulator; and

3) request that the JLT report on GMP reconciliation is circulated to Committee members.

35.1     The Committee considered a report seeking approval to procure the Hymans Robertson Employer Asset Tracker (HEAT).

35.2     The Committee asked Hymans Robertson representatives to leave the room for the duration of the item.

35.3     The Committee RESOLVED to:

1) approve the Hymans Robertson Employer Asset Tracker implementation;

2) approve an annual operating cost of £25,000 subject to negotiation; and

3) request confirmation of the outcome of the negotiations via email.

The Committee considered a general update on matters related to the Committee’s activity.

The Committee RESOLVED to note the report.

37.1     The Committee considered its forward plan.

37.2     The Committee RESOLVED to note the report.

To consider excluding the public and press from the meeting for the remaining agenda item on the grounds that if the public and press were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as specified in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended), namely information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

38.1     The Committee resolved to exclude the public and press from the meeting for the remaining agenda item on the grounds that if the public and press were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as specified in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended), namely information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

39.1     The Committee considered a report providing an update on the activities undertaken by the ACCESS pool group.

14.2 The Committee RESOLVED to:

1) note the report; and

2) approve the East Sussex Pension Fund participation in the launching of Phase 1 Tranche 2 of ACCESS Sub-fund investment mandate.

40.1     The Committee considered a report providing an update on participating employer pension issues.

40.2     The Committee RESOLVED to note the report.