Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on June 26 2014 be

confirmed and signed as a correct record subject to Minute 6 being amended

to show William Marshall attended and not Jordan Irvine.

There were none.

A presentation will be made by Northern Trust.

A presentation was made by Robert Frazer a Senior Vice President and Head

of UK Pensions and Richard Smith the Relationship Manager for the London

Borough of Lewisham Pension Fund.

They tabled a document describing their company’s 125 year history and they

outlined their role as global asset custodians of more than 6 trillion pounds in

assets.

Following questions from the Committee, the Chair thanked Mr Frazer and Mr

Smith for their interesting presentation which he felt opened another

dimension to the Committee’s work. 

RESOLVED that the representatives of Northern Trust Solutions be thanked

for their presentation.

A presentation was made by Bradley George the Portfolio manager and Steve

Lee the Relationship Manager of the UK Client Group and Relationship

Manger for the London Borough of Lewisham Pension Fund.

They tabled a document describing their company founded in 1991 and they

outlined their role as asset mangers of 72 billion pounds.

Following questions from the Committee, the Chair thanked Mr George and

Mr Lee for making a useful presentation which he thought provided useful

background to the Committee.

RESOLVED that the representatives of Investec Asset Management be

thanked for their presentation.

A presentation was made by Lynn Coventry of State Street Global Services.

She tabled a document containing her group’s analysis of the investment

market and explained the work they undertook for 85 local authorities.

The Chair thanked her for her presentation which served as an aid to the

Committee’s understanding of their role.

RESOLVED that the representative of State Street Global Services be

thanked for the presentation to the Committee.

The report was presented by Albert Chen a Consultant with Hymans

Robertson. He concluded that based on the latest reporting period there were

no issues with any of the current fund maangers and no changes were

proposed.

Councillor Maslin raised a question about the cycle of performance and Albert

Chen indicated the figures could be shared subsequent to the meeting.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

The report was presented by the Principal Accountant Strategic Finance who

promoted a new quarterly rebalancing policy for the Fund’s mandates based

on pragmatic tolerances that would allow rebalancing half way to the

benchmark.

The Committee questioned the breadth of the discretion to be awarded to the

Executive Director in consultation with the Chair and were informed this would

only occur in exceptional circumstances. The Committee asked to be notified

whenever any such discretion was exercised.

RESOLVED that

(1) the new strategic allocation for 2014-15 be agreed;

(2) a new rebalancing policy as set out in Section 5 be agreed; and

(3) delegated authority be granted to the Executive Director for Resources

and Regeneration in consultation with the Chair of the Pensions Investment

Committee to undertake asset allocation rebalancing when required.

The report was presented by the Head of Corporate Resources who indicated

this was an interim report and that a further report would be presented once

the Government had issued final guidance concerning requirements to set up

a separate Pension board.

The Chair requested that a finalised timetable should be considered at the

next meeting of the Committee.

RESOLVED that

(1) the legislative requirement to set up a Pension board be noted;

(2) the draft terms of reference for the Pension board be agreed subject to

any amendments required following final guidance expected to be issued in

late September/early October; and

(3) the payment of £4,000 (plus VAT) and an annual maintenance fee of

£2,000 (plus VAT) be agreed for a hosted website that will provide the latest

communications to members and employers on Pension related issues.

The Committee received a future training schedule and the Chair asked that

this be circulated together with actual timings of events.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

The meeting closed at 9.30pm