Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Apologies were received from the following:

Cllr David Skelton

Cllr Sabri Ozadyin

Members of the Board are invited to identify any disclosable pecuniary, other pecuniary or non-pecuniary interests relevant to the items on the agenda.

NONE.

To agree the minutes of the previous meeting.

The minutes of the meeting held on 18 January 2023 were agreed with the following amendments:

Cllr Tim Leaver to be marked in attendance.

Bola Tobun’s actions to be picked up by Ravi Lakhani.

To receive an update from the Chair.

The Chair welcomed Ravi Lakhani to the Committee as the new Interim Head of Pension Investments.

The Chair thanked Bola Tobun for her work for the Council and wish her luck in her new role.

The member AGM was successful with roughly 500 people joining online and some pensions present in the room. It was suggested to provide more notice of the AGM date for next year. The pensioners who attended had mainly case work questions and so it was suggested that next years AGM include a drop in session on the day at the end of the meeting to address this. A member addressed concern on having a halal investment option. The Chair has asked the scheme advisory board to keep the committee appraised of it and the committee will report back on it next year.

Members are asked to note the contents of the report;

1.    Agree the timelines/approach to compliance with TCFD regulations

2.    Discuss and agree what the RI objectives for the fund should be.

3.    Agree next steps

Jennifer O’Neill (Aon), presented this item highlighting the key points from the presentation and report.

The Government have asked LGPS organisations to consider and articulate their exposure and management to and of climate related risks on an annual basis. The regulation is expected to come into place in April 2023 for the Fund to comply in 2024. Developing funds approach will take time and require input from multiple parties. Therefore, planning ahead is important and Aon recommended starting the project early.

At this point, Cllr Taylor left the meeting and as Vice-Chair Cllr Tim Leaver chaired the rest of the meeting.

Members had questions on how we are doing compared to other funds, to which Aon explained that we have been quite active on focusing on responsible investment.

ACTION Aon to provide brief update report on examples of disclosures.  

Members are asked to note the contents of the report and take into consideration cash flows to ensure future benefit payments are met when they fall due and when considering new investments or changes to the strategic benchmark asset allocations.

Ravi Lakhani presented this item highlighting the key points from the report.

Carolan Dobson commented that continuing to pursue with the fund managers is a good position to be in.

The report was noted.

To note the minutes of the Pension Board meeting held on 15 December 2022.

NOTED the minutes of the Pension Board Meeting held on 15 December 2022.

Ravi Lakhani informed the committee that the Budget would be going to the next Pension Board meeting for them to comment on.

Following an action from the Pension Board for the Committee members to undertake an enhanced DBS check, Robyn Mclintock gave an update from Governance to confirm that Member Support will be in touch to conduct the checks.

The PPIC are asked to note the contents of the report and the attached appendices.

The Committee have been monitoring the Enfield Fund Fossil Fuel Exposure. It has been doing well and has been decreasing due to portfolio changes.

AGREED for this item to come to the Committee twice a year.

Members are asked to note the contents of the report and the appendices.

Colin Cartwright (Aon) presented this item highlighting the key points from the report explaining that overall, the fund reduced in value by 1.1% in quarter four of 2022. As of 31^st March 2022 the funding level was 108%.

Since the last meeting Aon have met with Baillie Gifford to focus on risk management within the investment strategy and will share further information following the debrief of this strategy.

Aon expect to see a global recession at some point over the coming year, although it may be relatively shallow and short lived. The economic outlook has held a lot of uncertainty due to the rise of inflation, overall we are doing well in difficult times.

Noted the report and part 2 appendices.

To note the dates of the future meetings will be confirmed following Annual Council on Wednesday 10 May 2023.

Noted.

Members commented they preferred to keep to daytime meetings and need to consider the day of the week the meetings are held on following the Annual Council Meeting on 10 May 2023.

To consider passing a resolution under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972 excluding the press and the public from the meeting for the items listed as part 2 on the agenda on the ground that they involve disclosure of exempt information as defined in those paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act (as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006).

These items will contain exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3

(information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular

person – including the authority holding that information) of Schedule 12A

to the Local Government Act 1972, as amended.

Members are recommended to:

1.    Note the contents of the report.

2.    Agree to invite the Infrastructure managers highlighted in the Aon report to present  their fund philosophy, investment objective and style to the committee in Q2 2023.

Following a part 2 discussion the report was NOTED.

AGREED to approve the appointment and removal of the actuary, investment managers and investment advisors, following apporporiate procurement and selection procedures.

Members are asked to note the contents of the report and presentation.

Following a part 2 discussion the presentation was NOTED.