Agenda item

Pension Fund Update Report

(To receive a report from the Head of Pensions, which updates the Board on Fund matters and any current issues)

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report by the Head of Pensions, which provided an update on Fund matters over the quarter ending 30 September 2019.

 

The Board was provided with updates on the following:

 

·         Local Authority Pension Fund Forum Membership;

·         The Pension Regulator (TPR) Checklist Dashboard;

·         Breaches Register Update;

·         Risk Register Update;

·         Asset Pooling Update; and

·         Good Governance Review.

 

The Board was advised that all members of the Pensions Committee, except the newly appointed member, had completed TPR Toolkit.  It was advised that the new member would complete the Toolkit within the six month deadline.

 

The Fund had made its first investment with Border to Coast in October 2019, into the Global Equity Alpha Fund.  The transition had been managed by Blackrock, and overseen by Inalytics.  It was confirmed that generally the transition had gone very well, and Inalytics had provided an interim report stating it was satisfied with the transition work undertaken by Blackrock. 

 

It was highlighted that the transition had incurred a higher than estimated implementation shortfall (a standard measure for transitions), as the target portfolio had significantly out-performed the legacy portfolio during the transition.  To assist in the oversight of the governance in respect of the transition of assets to Border to Coast, the final transition report from Inalytics would be shared with the Board once it was available.

 

In response to a question, it was advised that Blackrock had been appointed by Border to Coast.

 

The next transition of assets Border to Coast was scheduled for early 2020 into the Investment Grade Credit Sub-Fund, and followed by Multi Asset Credit in the second half of 2020.  An overview of both of the funds had been included in the Border to Coast presentation to the Pension Committee in December 2019.

 

It was highlighted that following on from Phase I of the Good Governance Review detailed at the July 2019 meeting of the Board, phase II had now been completed and the report had been published in November 2019, which was attached at Appendix C to the report.  The Scheme Advisory Board had agreed to constitute two working groups (focusing on the Standards and Outcomes workstream; and the Compliance and Improvement workstream) to take forward the proposals included in the original report.  Hymans Robertson had been appointed to assist the working groups in the next phase of the good governance project. 

 

The phase II report had included detailed implementation proposals from the workstreams, which included a list of the changes required to guidance to implement the framework.  A table summarising the proposed changes was detailed on pages 17-19 of the agenda pack.  Specific reference was made to the size and make-up of pension committees and the training requirements.

 

In light of the two new members on the Board, it was suggested that a training evaluation submission be emailed to all members of the Board for completion, which would help identify any training needs, the results of which could then be discussed under the item Training Needs at the next scheduled meeting of the Board.

 

In response to a question it was confirmed that F5 on TPR's and Scheme Advisory Board Compliance Checklist was shaded in grey, as F5 was not relevant as there would be no decisions taken by the Board outside of its meetings.                                                       

 

RESOLVED

 

(1)  That the report be noted.

 

(2)  That a training evaluation submission be emailed to all members of the Board for completion to identify any training needs, the results of which would then be discussed under the item Training Needs at the next scheduled meeting of the Board.

Supporting documents:

 

 
 
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