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Council meetings

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Civic Suite, Lewisham Town Hall, London SE6 4RU

Contact: Email: committee@lewisham.gov.uk 

Note: Election of Chair and Vice Chair 

Media

Items
No. Item

1.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 78 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

That the minutes of the last meeting held on 16 November 2023, be confirmed and signed as an accurate record.

 

2.

Declarations of Interest pdf icon PDF 80 KB

Minutes:

No interest was declared at the meeting.

 

3.

General Update - Part One pdf icon PDF 114 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Director of Finance presented the report and gave an update to the Committee on the following matters:

 

(a)      Pension Fund Annual Report and Accounts 2023/24

 

          The Committee noted that the Lewisham Pension Fund Draft Accounts for 2023/24 had been published in June 2024 and that the main audit work would be carried out by the new auditors, KPMG, in September and October 2024.

 

The Officer concluded that as part of the process, the Annual Report 2023/24 would be published by 1 December 2024 to meet the statutory deadline, but that the final version of the report, including the draft Pension Fund Accounts would be brought back to the Committee on 20 November 2024 prior to its publication.

 

(b)      Storebrand pre-declaration of voting

 

The Committee was notified that Storebrand had moved to a pre-declaration of voting. This change was in line with the Engagement Policy and represented a positive step towards a greater engagement of the Committee with Funds Managers.

 

(c)      LCIV Shareholder Representative

 

The Officer confirmed that the London Collective Investment Vehicle (LCIV) Shareholder Representative for Lewisham for 2024/25 was the Chair of the Committee, with the Vice Chair as an alternative representative.

 

(d)      The Pension Regulator General Code of Practice 2024

 

The Committee noted the introduction of the revised General Code of Practice in March 2024 and the recent legislative changes for trustees and managers of occupational pension schemes. Officers had been working with Hyman Robertson to provide training and ensure that the changes would be implemented by the recommended deadline in 2024-25. An update on the matter would be brought to the November 2024 meeting of the Committee.

 

(e)      Risk Register

 

The meeting was advised that since the Committee had last reviewed the Risk Register in November 2023, some of the risk scores had changed as follows:

 

    Funding Risk (AI 01) score decreased from 15 to 12.

    Concentration Risk (AI 02) score remained at 6; however, the target score   increased from 4 to 6.

  Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Risk (AI 07)   increased from 6 to 9.

   Financial Risk (EM01) score decreased from 9 to 6.

   Inadequate Staffing (RS 01) score decreased from 8 to 6.

  Fraud or Fraudulent Behaviour (AG 09) score decreased from 6 to 3.

• Non-compliance Risk – Other (RC 02) score decreased from 9 to 6.

 

In response to concerns raised by some Members regarding ESG risk and the possibility of Pension Funds being invested with organisations involved in war activities, the Director of Finance confirmed that Funds and Funds Managers were operating legally within their legislative and regulatory frameworks. She also clarified that, in line with the Investment Strategy Statement and its appendix, the Responsible Investment Beliefs Statement, any council’s mandates or investments would be subjected to exclusions and discretionary exclusions i.e., arms, ammunitions, alcohol and tobacco were some of the exclusions applied by some Fund Managers.

 

The Director of Finance advised the Committee that the class of share held in the LCIV PEPPA fund  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

4.

Any Other Business

Minutes:

Councillor Anwar presented a proposal which was supported by Councillor Shrivastava and then amended in response to comments from Members. The proposal in its revised state was worded as follows:

 

The Pension Investment Committee agrees to explore its proximity, exposure and investment companies involved in:

- The arms trade;

- Any company associated with or whose activities facilitate human rights abuse;

- Any companies who operate within an area considered occupied territory under international law

with a view

to review and update its Responsible Investment policy, to move away from such investments and, to agree on a definition of arms trade.

 

Given the complex nature of the topic, the Committee concluded that an in-depth discussion on the matter should take place in a workshop setting with the Monitoring Officer present, prior to the next PIC meeting, and an update to be brought back at the November 2024 meeting of the Committee.

5.

Exclusion of Press and Public pdf icon PDF 84 KB

Minutes:

In considering recommendation made under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the Committee noted the following submission:

 

       That the press and public would be excluded from the meeting for the following items on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 of Part 1 of Schedule 12(A) of the Act, as amended by the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Access to Information) (Amendments) (England) Regulations 2006:

 

Item 6. Quarterly Investment monitoring cover report

Item 7. General Report – Part Two

Item 8. Meet the Manager – Presentation from HarbourVest

Item 9. Pooling considerations cover report

Item 10. Update on Climate Risk and Net Zero cover report

Item 11. Engagement Policy cover report

6.

Quarterly Investment Monitoring Cover Report

Minutes:

Considered in Part 2 under closed session.

7.

General Report - Part Two

Minutes:

Considered in Part 2 under closed session.

 

8.

Meet the Manager - Presentation from HarbourVest

Minutes:

Considered in Part 2 under closed session.

 

9.

Pooling Considerations Cover Report

Minutes:

Considered in Part 2 under closed session.

 

10.

Update on Climate Risk and Net Zero Cover Report

Minutes:

Considered in Part 2 under closed session.

 

11.

Engagement Policy Cover Report

Minutes:

Considered in Part 2 under closed session.

 

12.

Date of next meetings

Minutes:

The Committee noted that the date of the next meetings will be held as follows:

 

·       Wednesday, 20th November 2024

·       Wednesday, 5th February 2025

 

The Chair requested that a calendar invite of future meetings of the Committee be sent to Members.

Action: Committee Officer

 

13.

Any Other Business

Minutes:

 

There was no other business for consideration in the closed session at the meeting.

 

The meeting closed at 10.56pm

 

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Chair