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Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Virtual

Contact: Deborah Miller  Tel: 07920 084239; E-Mail:  deborah.miller@oxfordshire.gov.uk

Link: video link to the meeting

Items
No. Item

106/20

Apologies for Absence and Temporary Appointments

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Ian Corkin and Councillor Lawrie Stratford.

107/20

Minutes pdf icon PDF 374 KB

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 5 June 2020 (PF3) and to receive information arising from them.

Minutes:

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 5 June 2020 were approved and signed as an accurate record, subject to amending ‘Johnson’ with ‘Johnston’ and ‘Alister’ with ‘Alistair’ in the list of attendance.

 

Matters Arising

 

In relation to Minute 105/20, Councillor Field-Johnson thanked Mr Collins for his report, noting that the report focused on year 1 and 2 and that he had hoped to see a report of the liabilities of the Fund for the next 5 and 10 years, together with some sensitivity analysis.  Mr Collins agreed to bring a short report to the December Meeting once the biggest employers had been through a budget cycle to see if there was a significant fall in membership numbers and to look at what the base lines were and at what level action would need to taken.

108/20

Petitions and Public Address

This meeting of the Pension Fund Committee will be held virtually in order to conform with current guidelines regarding social distancing. Normally requests to speak at this public meeting are required by 9 am on the day preceding the published date of the meeting. However, during the current situation and to facilitate these new arrangements, we are asking that requests to speak are submitted by no later than 9am four working days before the meeting i.e. 9 am on 7 September 2020. Requests to speak should be sent to Deborah.miller@oxfordshire.gov.uk together with a written statement of your presentation to ensure that if the technology fails then your views can still be taken into account. A written copy of your statement can be provided no later than 9 am 2 working days before the meeting.

 

Where a meeting is held virtually and the addressee is unable to participate virtually their written submission will be accepted

.

Written submissions should be no longer than 1 A4 sheet.

 

Minutes:

The Committee received a public address from Mr Karl Wallendszus on behalf of Fossil Free Oxfordshire (FFO).  He thanked the committee for involving them in the workshop on climate risk at the end of last year and the working group that followed.  They welcomed the shift on climate policy that had occurred since then.  Sean Collins had described FFO as “critical friends” so in that spirit he highlighted some issues that were still of concern to them. 

 

He welcomed the overall target to reduce emissions by 7.6 % p.a. for the companies the Pension Fund invests in. Emission reductions should however go hand in hand with reducing investments in companies which hold fossil fuel reserves. Providing unlimited capital to fossil fuel companies, whilst urging other companies to reduce emissions, did not make sense. Therefore, he urged the Committee to adopt targets to reduce exposure to fossil fuel investments. 

 

FFO were hoping that the transfer of £135m from the Passive UK Equity portfolio to the Passive Low Carbon portfolio, as recommended by the independent financial adviser in March, would be an initial step. However, they noticed that only £120m was transferred in May, of which only £24m originated from the Passive UK Equity portfolio, the other £96m being transferred from the Passive Global Equity portfolio, which already had a low exposure to fossil fuels. As a result, the overall exposure to fossil fuels was still high, much higher than some other pension funds in the Brunel pool, such as the Environment Agency and Wiltshire.

 

Over the last three months Brunel had significantly reduced the fossil fuel exposure of the Passive Global Equity portfolio, which FFO applauded. He asked the Committee  to urge Brunel, perhaps in collaboration with other member pension funds, to reduce exposure to fossil fuels in their other portfolios as well, in particular the UK Equity portfolios. In their latest quarterly statement, Brunel had admitted that the poor performance of the Passive and Active UK Equity funds was a result of overexposure and poor performance of fossil fuel companies. That underperformance had been evident for a number of years. According to their calculations, the fossil fuel component of the Brunel portfolios lost £46m in the first four months of 2020, much higher than other sectors. So stranded assets were now a reality. The Pension Fund had a fiduciary duty to maximise returns, and excessive exposure to fossil fuel companies hindered that duty. He urged the Committee not to be complacent.

109/20

Minutes of the Local Pension Board pdf icon PDF 227 KB

10:20

 

A copy of the unconfirmed Minutes of the Local Pension Board, which met on  17 July 2020 is attached for information only (PF5).

Minutes:

The unconfirmed Minutes of the Local Pension Board which met on 17 July 2020 were noted.

 

110/20

Report of the Local Pension Board pdf icon PDF 197 KB

10:25

 

In a response to a request from the Chairman of Pension Fund Committee to have a dedicated item on each Committee agenda for the work of the Local Pension Board, attached at (PF6) is the report by the Independent Chairman of the Local Pension Board.  It invites the Committee to respond to the key issues raised by the Pension Board at is most recent meeting on 17 July 2020.

 

The Committee is RECOMMENDED to note the comments of the Board as set out below, and confirm whether they are happy to have their draft minutes available to the Board in advance of them being agreed by the next meeting of the Committee itself.

 

Minutes:

The Committee had before it the latest report by the Independent Chairman of the Local Pension Board.  Councillor Bob Johnston, Local Pension Board Member, spoke to the report on the board’s behalf, which invited the Committee to respond to the key issues contained within it.

 

Councillor Johnston highlighted the issues set out in the report, including the agreement that the risk register should go to all future meetings of the Board and that in future, the Board wished to receive the unconfirmed minutes of the Committee.

 

The Committee, whilst agreeing to the idea of the Local Pension Board receiving the minutes, expressed some reservation around the Local Pension Board receiving the unconfirmed minutes of the Committee prior to the Committee seeing and agreeing them.  They asked the Committee Officer to investigate the issue.

 

RESOLVED:to note the comments of the Board and agree that they were happy to have their draft minutes made available to the Board in advance of the them being agreed by the next meeting of the Committee itself, subject to the Committee officer checking the requirements surrounding draft minutes.

111/20

Review of the Annual Business Plan 2020/21 pdf icon PDF 525 KB

10:35

 

This report will review progress against the key objectives and budget set out in the 2020/21 Business Plan.  Full reports on the objectives in respect of implementing the Climate Change Policy and improving the Governance of the Fund are included later on in the agenda.

 

The Committee is RECOMMENDED to note the progress against the key service priorities and the budget as set out in their annual business plan for 2020/21.

Minutes:

The Committee had before it a report (PF7) which reviewed progress against the key objectives and budget set out in the 2020/21 Business Plan.  Full reports on the objectives in respect of implementing the Climate Change Policy and improving the Governance of the Fund were included later on in the agenda.

 

Mr Collins reported that in terms of Brunel the report updated the current position and confirmed the fact that Brunel had restarted the transitions and that they were due to transition the monies from UBS portfolio to the Brunel portfolio at the end of the month and that the report also looked at further improved engagement with scheme members.

 

RESOLVED:to note the progress against the key service priorities and the budget as set out in their annual business plan for 2020/21.

112/20

Climate Change Policy Implementation Plan Update pdf icon PDF 200 KB

10:50

 

This report will be the first of a regular report to update the Committee on progress in implementing the Climate Change Policy agreed at their meeting in June 2020.

 

The Committee is RECOMMENDED to:

 

(a)       note the report;

(b)       endorse the Fund applying to join the Climate Action 100+ initiative and The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change.

 

Minutes:

At the June 2020 meeting, the Pension Fund Committee agreed a Climate Change Policy Implementation Plan that set out how the fund will look to deliver against its Climate Change Policy. The Committee had before it a report (PF8) which was the first update on delivery against the implementation plan and will form a standing item on Pension Fund Committee agendas.

 

Mr Ley, introduced the report and in particular highlighted the actions taken in the last quarter outlined paragraphs 9 and 10 of the report.  Brunel were currently working with The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change on the development of their Paris Aligned Investment Initiative. This piece of work aimed to explore how investors could align their portfolios with the goals of the Paris Agreement including methods for assessing alignment. Brunel were participating in testing the outputs of the work using data from their portfolios. It was hoped that the work would lead to the ability to assess alignment with the Paris Agreement across the Brunel portfolios.

 

Officers had investigated the various investor groups focusing on climate change that the Fund could join. At this stage it was recommended that the Pension Fund join the Climate Action 100+ initiative and The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change. Both of these bodies were well established with clear goals that aligned with those of the Pension Fund and benefited from the support of a wide investor base.

 

Members were asked to note that Faith Ward, the Chief Responsible Investment Officer at Brunel was scheduled to attend the December 2020 meeting of this Committee when all the above issues could be discussed in more depth.  The Chairman asked the Committee to submit any questions they might have for the Chief Investment Officer to Sean prior to the Committee Meeting, so that she could armed with the answers to the questioned.

 

Councillor Roz Smith questioned whether Mr Ley had any comment from the statement from Hymans Robertson from the training in the morning around setting a target on Reserves.  Mr Ley commented that he was happy to look at reserves.  Brunel provided data around the Funds exposure to reserves on fossil fuel companies so it would be possible to set a target.  He undertook to provide a report on this area in the next update to the Committee.

 

RESOLVED:  to:

 

(a)       note the report;

(b)       endorse the Fund applying to join the Climate Action 100+ initiative and The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change.

113/20

Governance Review pdf icon PDF 98 KB

11:15

 

This report responds to the service priority included within the Business Plan for 2020/21 to review the governance of the Fund in light of the increased focus on this issue from the Pension Regulator and the Scheme Advisory Board.  The main report which has been produced by Hymans Robertson also includes the findings from the recent National Knowledge Assessment and proposes a further review of our governance arrangements and a detailed training plan to address the weaknesses identified within the results of the Assessment.

 

The Committee is RECOMMENDED to:

 

(a)           note the update provided by Hymans Robertson at Annex 1 and in particular, the results of Oxfordshire’s participation in the National Knowledge Assessment;

(b)          agree to ask Hymans Robertson to undertake the proposed governance review, and to ask Officers to finalise the details of the review with Hymans Robertson including the fee payable; and

(c)           agree the proposed training programme and ask Officers to continue to work with Hymans Robertson to develop appropriate options for each of the subjects to be covered.  Members are asked to provide any preferences for on-line, face-to-face or written training delivery.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee had before it the Governance Review (PF9), which responded to the service priority included within the Business Plan for 2020/21 to review the governance of the Fund in light of the increased focus on this issue from the Pension Regulator and the Scheme Advisory Board.  The main report which had been produced by Hymans Robertson also included the findings from the recent National Knowledge Assessment and proposed a further review of governance arrangements and a detailed training plan to address the weaknesses identified within the results of the Assessment.

 

According, Mr Ian Colvin, Hymans Robertson had been invited to the Committee to speak to his Report.  Mr Colvin, in introducing the report highlighted the actions going forward to undertake a review of the funds governance arrangements in view of the changing pace of the LGPS and the requirements put on LGPS Funds, to look at the Funds policies and processes and to speak to key officers and members, actions and minutes with a view to carrying out an assessment against the regulator’s expectations so that they could benchmark and provide recommendations going forward.

 

The second piece of work would focus on the results of the National Knowledge Assessment, to adopt a training plan based on what the National Knowledge assessment had told them, together with issues that individuals had raised as areas on which they needed further training on which would flexible to deal with any changes.

 

Councillor Charles Mathew questioned what the cost of fees would be.  Mr Collins said he had a figure (which was not substantial) and would agreeing fees with Hymans Robertson prior to going ahead but emphasised that if this work was not carried out, it could cause potential problems with the pension regulator in the future.

 

Councillor Roz Smith questioned whether the training be coming out of a training budget for the County Council and indicated that her preference for training would be online and face to face training.  The Chairman reported that Pension Fund Budget was separate from the County Council and would be coming from that.  Councillor Lygo stated that he would wish to also see a sounding board developed.

 

RESOLVED: to (subject to Sean Collins agreeing the fees)

 

(a)           note the update provided by Hymans Robertson at Annex 1 and, the results of Oxfordshire’s participation in the National Knowledge Assessment;

(b)           agree to ask Hymans Robertson to undertake the proposed governance review, and to ask Officers to finalise the details of the review with Hymans Robertson including the fee payable; and

(c)           agree the proposed training programme and ask Officers to continue to work with Hymans Robertson to develop appropriate options for each of the subjects to be covered.  Members are asked to provide any preferences for on-line, face-to-face or written training delivery.

114/20

Risk Register pdf icon PDF 211 KB

11:40

 

This report updates the Committee on the Fund’s Risk Register, updating the position on risks reported to the last meeting and adding in new risks identified in the intervening period.

 

The Committee is RECOMMENDED to note the changes to the risk register and offer any further comments.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee had before it a report (PF10) which updated the Members on the Fund’s Risk Register, setting out the position on risks reported to the last meeting and adding in new risks identified in the intervening period.

 

Mr Collins reported that since the risk register was last updated in March, there had been a number of significant events, including the Covid-19 pandemic, the publication of the consultation on changes to the LGPS Regulations as a consequence of the McCloud case, and the revision of the Committee’s Investment Strategy Statement including the new Climate Change Policy.  The risk register had been reviewed in light of those events.  One risk had been lowered, risk 2, and two increased.  There were now 4 risks which required regular review, and these were set out in the report.  He further reported that they had taken on the point from Local Pension Board to report the risks in future to every Board meeting.

 

One fourth risk scored Amber was the new risk 20 from the March register which covered the implications of the proposed new Regulations seeking to remedy the Court decisions in the age discrimination cases brought by McCloud and Sargeant.  It was now known that the proposals involved bringing a wider group of scheme members within the current protection arrangements, initially only offered to those with 10 years of retirement.

 

The proposed changes would involve the Administering Authority having to complete 2 calculations for each scheme member to determine whether they were better off under the new 2014 CARE arrangements, or the previous final salary arrangements.  The additional calculation to determine a member’s pension entitlement under the previous final salary arrangements would require data not routinely maintained on the pension’s software since the scheme changes in 2014.  Whilst Oxfordshire has continued to collect this data from scheme employers since 2014, it had not been fully validated or loaded to the pension record.  The data had not been provided where members had transferred into the Oxfordshire Fund since 2014. 

 

There was therefore a significant risk that for certain scheme members, the Fund would not hold the data required to carry out the final salary pension entitlement, and/or would not be able to obtain/validate it from the scheme employer who could be outside the Oxfordshire Fund, had ceased to exist, no longer be a member of the Oxfordshire Fund, or changed their payroll provider since 2014.  It was also likely that in some cases the information would need to be obtained/validated from multiple employers.  There would a significant risk therefore that the required calculations will not be possible in all cases.

 

The second element of this risk related to the increased administrative effort required from both the scheme employers and the Administering Authority in order to meet the increased requirements.  Even where it might possible to obtain the necessary data, there could be insufficient resources to complete the task.  As this was a task that will impact across the whole of the LGPS, it was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 114/20

115/20

Administration Report pdf icon PDF 455 KB

11:50

 

This report updates the Committee on the key administration issues including the iConnect project, service performance measurement and any write offs agreed in the last quarter.

 

The Committee is RECOMMENDED to:

(a)       note this report;

(b)        agree to delegate the preparation of a response on the consultation of changes to the Fire Service Pension Scheme to the Director of Finance following consultation with the Fire Service Pension Board, and

(c)       agree the response to the consultation on the extension of the Statutory Underpin in the LPGP as set out in Annex 2, amended as appropriate.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered a report (PF11) which gave an update on the latest position on administration issues and which requested determination on a number of issues as set out in the report, the resolutions for which are set out below.

 

Mrs Fox reported that at present the team was carrying vacancies for 2 senior administrators; 4.50 administrators and 2 administrative assistants.  An additional senior administrator vacancy had been created by the secondment of a member of staff who would be covering the current team leader’s maternity leave which started at the beginning of October. The senior administrator vacancies were not filled internally so those jobs would need to be advertised externally.  The administrator posts had been advertised externally with over 200 responses received. Following an arduous selection process 4 candidates had been appointed and would be joining the team shortly.

 

Both administrative assistant roles were out to advert, and it was hoped that appointments would follow shortly.  With such a high level of new recruits, team leaders were now setting out a training plan for our new entrants whilst maintaining the through put of work for the overall team. The employer team would be moving to their new operating structure so that team members would deal with a specific group of scheme employers for all contact with the Fund.

 

In relation to data, Mrs Fox referring to the addenda, reported thatScheme employers were required to submit both data and contribution payments by 19th of month following payroll. Data returns were currently being made either via MARS or i-connect.  Late MARS returns had been recorded for six scheme employers in April and May; 3 scheme employers in June and 2 scheme employers in July. All returns were chased and subsequently received, so no fines had been issued. The data for the i-connect returns was not so clear cut given that employers were moving across to the new system and where payroll changes were taking place returns had been delayed, at our request, whilst member records were moved and data was locked down so that it cannot be overwritten. Where necessary chases for data returns had been made.  A new system report would enable better monitoring of the incoming returns.

 

As identified by the Pension Board’s review of the Pension Regulator’s Code of Practice 14, the performance reporting should include a regular review of the receipt of pension contributions from scheme employers and members.  This report had been developed and was provided as an addendum to the report. The address tracing exercise was now underway. A system report was due to be run shortly for review following end of year process, so that overall data quality scores can be checked ahead of the annual submission to The Pension Regulator.

 

The Chairman asked Mrs Fox to pass on the Committee’s thanked for all their efforts on completing end of year.

 

Complaints remained low and were all around ill health retirement. 

 

Administration to Pay project was due to be completed in December  ...  view the full minutes text for item 115/20

116/20

GMP Reconciliation Project pdf icon PDF 276 KB

12:00

 

This report (PF12) details the provisional outcome of the scheme's GMP reconciliation exercise and seeks members views on what parameters should be applied to the final run.

 

The Committee is RECOMMENDED to confirm:

 

a)         That no trivial threshold amount should be applied to any identified member records;

b)         That any underpayments identified should be paid to members as soon as possible on receipt of a final report from ITM, and interest paid in line with LGPS Regulations;

c)         There should be no recovery of any historic overpaid pension identified by this exercise, and that members should be given 3 months written notice before any reduction identified by this exercise is applied to their pension in payment.

Minutes:

The Committee had before it a report (PF12) which provided details of the provisional outcome of the scheme's GMP reconciliation exercise and sought members views on what parameters should be applied to the final run.

 

ITM Limited had been undertaking this exercise on behalf of the Oxfordshire Pension Fund.  Following corrections to HMRC records identified as incorrect, ITM received the final data cut from HMRC in May and had produced a provisional results report for both LGPS and Fire Pension Scheme.  Mrs Foxx presented the reports to the Committee and sought agreement to support the decisions required on the way forward.  Unfortunately, a number of discrepancies have been identified in the reports, and ITM have been asked to undertake further work to correct these and submit revised reports. The discrepancies were set out in the report circulated to all members of the Committee.

 

Mrs Fox drew the Committee’s attention to the revised recommendation set out in the Addenda in relation to thresholds.  She reported that should the Committee agree to the recommendations today, the changes would be made and then they would give members 3 months grace to get used to any adjustments in their monthly payments.

 

Councillor Lygo questioned whether the period of 3 months was a legal period.  Mrs Fox replied that the 3 months was seen as a reasonable period to alleviate any financial hardships the changes could impose.  Mr Collins added that the 3 months also took people to the other side of Christmas.

 

Councillor Thompson questioned whether there was any yearly or monthly data on how much the over-payments per person were.  Mrs Fox reported that they did not yet have that break down in information, only headline figures.  More detail would follow shortly.

 

The CommitteeRESOLVED to confirm:

 

a)         that no trivial threshold amount should be applied to any identified member records;

b)         that any underpayments identified should be paid to members as soon as possible on receipt of a final report from ITM, and interest paid in line with LGPS Regulations;

c)          there should be no recovery of any historic overpaid pension identified by this exercise, and that members should be given 3 months written notice before any reduction identified by this exercise is applied to their pension in payment.

117/20

Annual Report and Accounts pdf icon PDF 184 KB

12:10

 

The Committee will be invited to accept the draft Annual Report and Accounts for the Pension Fund.

 

The Committee is RECOMMEDED to note the report.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee had before it the draft Annual Report and Accounts for the Pension Fund (PF13).  Mr Ley reported that the Government had pushed back the auditing of the Accounts due to Covid and therefore it had been pushed back to the 30 November.  Therefore, officers would be bringing the full report on the Audited accounts to the next meeting of the Committee.

 

RESOLVED: to note the report.

118/20

Budget Outturn 2019/20 pdf icon PDF 126 KB

12:15

 

This report analyses the actual spend by the Oxfordshire County Council Pension Fund during 2019/20 against the budget and highlights the reasons for any material variances.

 

The Committee is RECOMMENDED to receive the report and note the out-turn position.

Minutes:

The Committee had before it the Budget Outturn 2019/20 report (PF14) which analysed the actual spend by the Oxfordshire County Council Pension Fund during 2019/20 against the budget and highlights the reasons for any material variances.

 

Mr Ley reported that the overall position was that they were slightly underspent at £270,000.

 

RESOLVED:to receive the report and note the out-turn position.

119/20

EXEMPT ITEMS

The Committee is RECOMMENDED that the public be excluded for the duration of items 16,17 and 18 in the Agenda since it is likely that if they were present during those items there would be disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended) and specified in relation to the respective items in the Agenda and since it is considered that, in all the circumstances of each case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

 

THE REPORTS RELATING TO THE EXEMPT ITEMS ARE PUBLIC. ANY EXEMPT INFORMATION WILL BE REPORTED ORALLY.

Minutes:

The Committee RESOLVED that the public be excluded for the duration of items 16,17 and 18 in the Agenda since it was likely that if they were present during those items there would be disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended) and specified in relation to the respective items in the Agenda and since it is considered that, in all the circumstances of each case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.

 

THE REPORTS RELATING TO THE EXEMPT ITEMS WERRE PUBLIC. ANY EXEMPT INFORMATION WILL BE REPORTED ORALLY.

 

120/20

Overview and Outlook for Investment Markets pdf icon PDF 480 KB

12:25

 

The attached report of the Independent Financial Adviser (PF16) sets out an overview of the current and future investment scene and market developments across various regions and sectors. The report itself does not contain exempt information and is available to the public. The Independent Financial Adviser will also report orally and any information reported orally will be exempt information.

 

The public should be excluded during this item because its discussion in public would be likely to lead to the disclosure to members of the public present of information in the following prescribed category:

 

3.        Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) and

 

since it is considered that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, in that such disclosure would prejudice the trading activities of the fund managers involved and would prejudice the position of the authority's investments in funding the Pension Fund.

 

The Committee is RECOMMENDED to receive the report, tables and graphs, to receive the oral report, to consider any further action arising on them and to bear the Independent Financial Adviser’s conclusions in mind when considering the Fund Managers’ reports.

 

Minutes:

The Committee had before it the report of the Independent Financial Adviser (PF16) which set out an overview of the current and future investment scene and market developments across various regions and sectors. The report itself did not contain exempt information and was available to the public. The Independent Financial Adviser would also report orally and any information reported orally will be exempt information.

 

The public should be excluded during this item because its discussion in public would be likely to lead to the disclosure to members of the public present of information in the following prescribed category:

 

3.        Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) and

 

since it was considered that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information, in that such disclosure would prejudice the trading activities of the fund managers involved and would prejudice the position of the authority's investments in funding the Pension Fund.

 

Mr Peter Davies, Independent Financial Advisor introduced his report.  The equity market rally which began in late March continued at a slowing pace during the quarter, with the result that the All-World Index ended June less than 1% below its end-2019 level. The UK market, however, lagged all other regions, and is well adrift over 1- and 3-year periods.  US equities have recouped most of the losses sustained in February and March.

 

The surge in the Technology sector accounted for much of the gain in the global index, with Health Care and Consumer Services (two of the more resilient sectors in Q1) rebounding strongly. Financials continued to lag the broader market.  The recovery in the FTSE 100 was hampered by the weakness in the Oil & Gas and Financials sectors.

 

Government bond prices rose during the quarter as yields reduced further, while corporate bonds continued their sharp rally as Central Banks stepped in to buy bonds as part of their quantitative easing programmes.  The pound was little changed against the dollar and the yen in the quarter, but lost ground against the euro. In July however, sterling rose by 6% against the dollar, reaching $1.31, and also rose 4% on the yen and 1% on the euro.

 

He further reported that with the coronavirus pandemic having claimed 750,000 lives worldwide and increasing numbers of cases being reported in many regions, it was clear that the direct and indirect effects of the pandemic would dominate the economic outlook for a long while yet.  Fiscal and monetary actions had cushioned the impact in the short term, but in time the full effects of the pandemic would become apparent in elevated levels of unemployment, corporate failures and, possibly, social unrest. Against this background it was hard to see equity markets continuing their recent rally, which had taken them close to the peak levels of February. Government bond yields, meanwhile, should maintain their current levels as central banks mop up the increased  ...  view the full minutes text for item 120/20

121/20

Overview of Past and Current Investment Position pdf icon PDF 8 MB

12:40

 

The Independent Financial Adviser will review the investment activity during the past quarter, present a summary of the Fund’s position as at 31 March 2020, and highlight any key performance issues, with reference to Tables and Graphs, and the Investment Performance Reports produced by Brunel.  

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Independent Financial Adviser presented the Brunel Portfolios Performance Report for the past quarter ending 30 June 2020.

 

RESOLVED: to receive the report.

122/20

Summary by the Independent Financial Adviser

12:55

 

The Independent Financial Adviser will summarise any issues arising from the previous discussions.

Minutes:

The Independent Financial Adviser was invited to summarise any issues arising from the previous discussions.  No further summary was required.  However, the Financial Advisor reported that the Financial Chief Officer from Brunel had been invited to the March Meeting of the Committee

 

RESOLVED: the Committee noted the report.

123/20

Corporate Governance and Socially Responsible Investment pdf icon PDF 3 MB

13:00

 

This item will provide the opportunity to raise any issues concerning Corporate Governance and Socially Responsible Investment which need to be brought to the attention of the Committee. 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

This item was on the Agenda to provide the opportunity to raise any issues concerning Corporate Governance and Socially Responsible Investment which needed to be brought to the attention of the Committee.

 

The Committee noted the Quarterly Engagement Report from the Local Authority Pension Forum and the Client Update Report from Brunel on Responsible Investing and that the Committee wishes to continue engaging positively with its stakeholders and hoped to hold a further workshop in March 2021.