Agenda and minutes

19.1     The Committee RESOLVED to agree the minutes of the meeting held on 16 June 2023 as a correct record.

20.1     There were no apologies received.

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.

21.1     Councillor Taylor declared a personal interest as a consultant who has recently liaised with The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change on unrelated business. She did not consider this to be prejudicial.

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

22.1     There were no urgent items.

23.1        The Committee RESOLVED to note the minutes of the Pension Board meeting held on 06 September 2023.

24.1     The Committee considered a report introduced by Michael Burton who drew the Committee’s attention to the following points:

1)    The Communications group has been dissolved by the Pension Board and the Pension Board recommended the McCloud working group to be absorbed into the Administration working group.

2)    There are two government consultations which will conclude in October; a consultation to abolish the Lifetime Allowance (LTAs) and a consultation on Investment Pooling.  A draft of the pooling consultation response will be taken to Pension Committee and officers will circulate this draft to Board members and arrange a meeting after the Committee meeting for Board comments and questions on the draft response.

3)    Changes to the Pension Board were outlined and a paper will go to the 28 September Governance Committee meeting to approve Pension Board vice chair nominations and appoint to the remaining member representative vacancy.

24.2     The Pension Committee RESOLVED to:

1)            note the nomination of a member representative vice chair and an employer representative vice chair for the Pension Board;

2)            note the decision to dissolve the Communications working group;

3)           agree the discontinuation of the McCloud working group and absorb this into the Administration working group.

25.1     The Committee considered a report introduced by Paul Punter who drew the Committee’s attention to the following points:

KPIs:

1)    The performance of the Pensions Administration team has remained consistently high, just under 95%

2)    Volume of post completed in line with previous quarter.

3)    June: some red and amber items due to increased work load including the backlog of data from one of the larger employers and a need to focus resources towards statutory projects; this underperformance of KPI’s will continue through to the next quarter

4)    Key pieces of work are prioritised to ensure no breaches will be incurred although the additional work created by B&H will be a challenge for the team.

Helpdesk:

5)    The ESPF will bring the helpdesk in house from April 2024, relevant staff to be TUPED and work underway, there are no concerns with performance at this time

6)    Details for the transition are still being planned however the software should be the same but this will be confirmed ahead of testing and officers advised this work will be managed through a wider project to ensure the Fund can operate effectively once services are inhouse.

Staffing:

7)    Much more settled with key vacancies filled and final interviews being conducted at the moment.

Projects:

8)    99.76% of Annual benefit statements were produced for deferred members. 95.9% of Annual Benefit Statements were produced for active Fund members which is considered a real achievement in the context of the volume of B&H data issues and the transition to i-Connect. 125 of the 141 employers’ data was collected through i-Connect. There has been a technical breach as did not achieve 100% of ABS returns. Officers, Pension Board and Committee will need to consider if the failure to provide 100% of the Annual Benefits Statement is a material breach of legislation that would require a report to the Pensions Regulator to be made.

9)    Process reviews are going well, will expect to finish in December. The Printing and postage service has gone live for the administration team but not for the payroll activities.

25.2     The Committee RESOLVED to note the updates.

26.1     The Committee considered a report introduced by Sian Kunert who drew the Committee’s attention to the following risks:

1) Risk E2 – Employer Data - has had its post mitigation likelihood reduced, changing the overall risk scoring down to an amber risk.

2) Risk A3 – Production of Statutory Returns - has had its post mitigation likelihood reduced to an amber risk. Reduced risk following last meeting discussion and the exempt risk register.

3) Risk 12: Officers recommend risk I2 – Changes to International Trade - be removed from the register. This was an update from an original Brexit risk, officers will keep the risk on the radar but not presenting as a standalone risk for reporting to the Committee.

4) A new risk has been added, Risk 19: Money purchase AVC – which relates to the Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVC) options available to members and reflects the requirement of the Fund to provide a suitable AVC offering to scheme members. An LGPS fund has an obligation to ensure members have an AVC option so must ensure an appropriate provider. This is not a high risk however it should be brought to the Committee’s attention and more detail will be shared at the next meeting including some data on the uptake of AVC’s amongst pension fund members.

26.2       The Committee discussed the pooling risk in the light of the consultation and the exempt risk register. The consultation refers to failure to comply with guidance and highlights that Pooling is considered to be area which could see invention from the Secretary of State. Officers consider the Fund to be in a similar position to others and that there are formal steps to bring processes in line with the guidance.

26.3       The Committee RESOLVED to review and note the Pension Fund Risk Register.</AI11>

27.1     The Committee considered a report introduced by Sian Kunert and Andrew Singh who drew the Committees attention to the following points:

1)    Lots of work has been undertaken on the efficacy of divestment and engagement and associated financial and legal considerations and a detailed report has been produced as requested.

2)    The Carbon footprint report will come to the next meeting as a new service provider has been sourced. The report will look different to previous provider and there will be data continuity issues as data has been brought in line with anticipated national LGPS guidance.  It was noted that data will evolve each year.

3)    Officers noted that there has been negative press around the climate scenario modelling. This will have to be done however officers do not want to commission a report which does not meet the needs of the Committee or support the strategy and would like to get a better sense of how to approach this and make best use of the data. Work is being undertaken by the LGA and scheme advisory board who will publish a response to the government consultation.

4)    The Stewardship report is submitted annually and takes time to compile so can feel out of date once published. The Impact Assessment is one of the criteria of good stewardship and feeds into that.

Performance report:

5)    The Committee received an overview of the quarter which is considered to have been largely positive. Opinion is that inflation has peaked and is reducing and should stabilise in time. The market is trying to predict interest rates, when this is more widely understood things will settle. Unemployment data was slightly weaker and wage inflation was also a factor.

6)    The Committee considered the performance of the different fund managers and noted there were various contributing factors. Performance is similar to the last quarter. Newton and Ruffer had a weak quarter as they are both positioned for a more muted market. WHEB and Wellington do not hold tech stocks which performed well this quarter. Both WHEB and Wellington are approaching the 3 year point with the Fund.

7)    The Wellington investment has recently been rated amber which is to monitor. The advisers do not suggest any action to be taken, but they will monitor the strategy for the next 12 months. The lead portfolio manager has stepped back  to manage another mandate, there has been an experienced member of the portfolio team promoted to lead portfolio manager with ultimate control on decision making, it is not anticipated that the portfolio will change with the new manager but it’s prudent to monitor the situation. , The Committee will consider an update at the next meeting. There is scheduled training due to take place in the coming month which will provide an opportunity for dialogue with them.

8)    Ruffer have underperformed in the last quarter however the Committee noted its positive long-term performance. There have been some personnel changes at the company. Positioned for a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

28.1     The Committee considered its work programme.

28.2     The Committee RESOLVED to agree the work programme.

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).

29.1     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).

30.1  The Board considered the exempt Investment report.

30.2  A summary of the discussion is set out in an exempt minute.

30.3  The Board RESOLVED to note the report.

31.1  The Board considered the exempt risk register.

31.2  A summary of the discussion is set out in an exempt minute.

31.3  The Board RESOLVED to note the report.

32.1  The Board considered a report providing an update on the Breaches Log and

outstanding or new Internal Dispute Resolution Procedure (IDRP) cases.

32.2  A summary of the discussion is set out in an exempt minute.

32.3  The Board RESOLVED to note the report.

33.1  The Board considered a report providing an update on the latest admissions and cessations of employers within the Fund.

33.2  A summary of the discussion is set out in an exempt minute.

33.3  The Board RESOLVED to note the report.

34.1     The Board considered a Supplier update report.

34.2     A summary of the discussion is set out in an exempt minute.

34.3     The Board RESOLVED to note the report.