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ITEM PF3

PENSION FUND COMMITTEE – 27 MAY 2005

Minutes of the Meeting commencing at 10.00 am and finishing at 12.57 pm

Present:

The Committee considered the matters, reports and recommendations contained or referred to in the agenda for the meeting, together with the following additional document tabled at the meeting:

Draft letter to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (agenda item 10)

and decided as set out below. Except insofar as otherwise specified, the reasons for the decisions are contained in the agenda, reports and additional document, copies of which are attached to the signed Minutes.

26/05. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND TEMPORARY APPOINTMENTS

Apologies for absence and temporary appointments were received as follows:

Apology from	Temporary Appointments
Councillor David Wilmshurst	Councillor Carol Viney
Councillor Bob Price (co-opted member)

27/05. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Councillor Moley declared a personal interest by virtue of being a member of the Pension Scheme and declared a personal interest in agenda item 13 as a member of the Vale of White Horse District Council. Mr Leeding declared a personal interest in agenda item 10 as an officer in receipt of a pension from the Fund.

28/05. MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 17 May 2005 were approved and signed.

29/05. OVERVIEW OF PAST AND CURRENT INVESTMENT POSITION

(Agenda Item 5)

The Committee was advised that Tables 1 to 7 had been compiled from the records of the custodian (the Pension Fund's prime record keeper). In his records, the custodian had accrued for dividends and recoverable overseas tax within his valuation figures and might also have used different exchange rates and pricing sources compared with the fund managers. In addition, the Committee was advised that the custodian had treated dividend scrip issues as purchases which the fund managers might not have done. This might mean that there were minor differences between the tabled figures and those supplied by the managers.

The Independent Financial Adviser reviewed the investment activity during the past quarter and presented an overview of the Fund’s position as at 31 March 2005. He added that £1m (approximately) still had to be transferred to the Berkshire Pension Fund for the former Oxfordshire Probation Service employees who had ceased to be County Council employees.

RESOLVED: to receive the tables, and that the information contained in them be borne in mind, insofar as they relate to items 7E, 8E and 9E on the agenda.

30/05. EXEMPT ITEMS

RESOLVED: that the public be excluded during the consideration of items 6E-9E in the Agenda since it was likely that if they were present during those items there would be a disclosure of "exempt" information as described in Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act, 1972 and specified below each item in the Agenda ie information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (other than the authority).

PROCEEDINGS FOLLOWING THE WITHDRAWAL OF THE PRESS AND PUBLIC

31/05. OVERVIEW AND OUTLOOK FOR THE INVESTMENT MARKETS

(Agenda Item 6E)

The Independent Financial Adviser reported orally giving an overview of the current and future investment scene and market developments across various regions and sectors. His oral report and the report (PF6E) were supported by relevant tables of economic and market trends, where appropriate.

RESOLVED: to receive the Independent Financial Adviser’s written and oral reports and to bear his conclusions in mind when considering the Fund Managers’ reports.

32/05. UBS GLOBAL ASSET MANAGEMENT*

(Agenda Item 7E)

The representatives (Mr K Barker and Mr A Patterson, who attended to focus on the property holdings) of the Fund Manager reported on the performance of the portfolio and strategy for the quarter that ended 31 March 2005 with reference to the presentation report which had been circulated separately with the papers for the agenda. Mr Barker responded to general questions and Mr Patterson responded to questions on the property portfolio.

RESOLVED: to receive UBS’s quarterly valuation and presentation reports for the quarter ending 31 March 2005.

33/05. LEGAL AND GENERAL*

(Agenda Item 8E)

The representatives (Ms J Cawley and Mr J Cloke) of the Fund Manager reported on the performance of the portfolio and strategy for the quarter that ended 31 March 2005 with reference to the presentation report which was tabled at the meeting. They responded to questions on the purchase of bonds in this quarter.

RESOLVED: to

1. receive Legal & General’s quarterly valuation and presentation reports for the quarter ending 31 March 2005;
2. ask Legal & General to include an example in a future quarterly report of the prices at which they bought and sold a particular bond.
   
   

34/05. REPORT OF MAIN ISSUESARISING FROM PRESENTATIONS GIVEN BY FUND MANAGERS NOT REPRESENTED AT THIS MEETING*

(Agenda Item 9E)

The Independent Financial Adviser reported on the main issues arising from the quarterly valuation reports from Alliance Bernstein and Baillie Gifford for the quarter ended 31 March 2005. The Independent Financial Adviser reported orally that Alliance Bernstein had performed well in this quarter. He further reported that Baillie Gifford had underperformed in this quarter and over the last year. However, Baillie Gifford had outperformed by 0.3% since July 2003 when the Company had become a Fund Manager.

RESOLVED: to note the main issues arising from the presentations and the Independent Financial Adviser’s comments.

ITEMS FOLLOWING THE RE-ADMISSION OF THE PRESS AND PUBLIC

35/05. LOCAL GOVERNMENT PENSION SCHEME

(Agenda Item 10)

The Committee considered a report (PF10) on a consultation by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on proposed changes to the Local Government Pension Scheme. The Head of Finance & Procurement reported that the Cabinet had asked for revisions to the draft letter and these had been incorporated into the revised draft letter tabled at the meeting.

RESOLVED: (one member abstaining) to agree the draft response circulated at the meeting subject to the following amendments:

In paragraph 3, line 6 "has seen" should read "sees";


In paragraph 4, line 5 "from" should read "for".

36/05. BEST VALUE REVIEW OF OXFORDSHIRE PENSION FUND ADMINISTRATION – IMPLEMENTATION

(Agenda Item 11)

The Committee considered a report (PF11) which had been referred to this Committee by the Best Value & Audit Committee.

RESOLVED: to welcome the report and to congratulate the Pension Team on the implementation of the Best Value Review’s recommendations.

37/05. SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE ISSUES

(Agenda Item 12)

The Head of Finance & Procurement reported that there were no issues to report.

RESOLVED: to note the Head of Finance & Procurement’s report.

38/05. LOCAL GOVERNMENT PENSION SCHEME REGULATIONS (LGPS) – APPLICATIONS FOR ADMISSION AS COMMUNITY BODIES

(Agenda Item 13)

The Committee considered a report (PF13) setting out an application to join the Oxfordshire Pension Fund.

RESOLVED: to approve the application of Oxfordshire Youth Arts Partnership subject to their agreeing to the terms of the Admission Agreements and this Committee being informed when the agreement had been signed.

39/05. ANNUAL FORUM

RESOLVED: to agree to hold the next Forum on 29 November 2005 at 10.00 am.

in the Chair

Date of signing 2005

* The reports relating to the exempt items have not been made public and should be regarded as strictly private to those members and officers entitled to receive them.

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