Agenda and minutes

Received from Councillor Sue Lukes.

None.

If you have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest* in an item of business:

·         if it is not yet on the council’s register, you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent;

·         you may choose to declare a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest that is already in the register in the interests of openness and transparency. 

In both the above cases, you must leave the room without participating in discussion of the item.

If you have a personal interest in an item of business and you intend to speak or vote on the item you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent but you may participate in the discussion and vote on the item.

*(a) Employment, etc - Any employment, office, trade, profession or vocation carried on for profit or gain.

(b)    Sponsorship - Any payment or other financial benefit in respect of your expenses in carrying out duties as a member, or of your election; including from a trade union.

(c)   Contracts - Any current contract for goods, services or works, between you or your partner (or a body in which one of you has a beneficial interest) and the council.

(d) Land - Any beneficial interest in land which is within the council’s area.

(e) Licences- Any licence to occupy land in the council’s area for a month or  longer.

(f)  Corporate tenancies - Any tenancy between the council and a body in which you or your partner have a beneficial interest.

(g) Securities - Any beneficial interest in securities of a body which has a place of business or land in the council’s area, if the total nominal value of the securities exceeds £25,000 or one hundredth of the total issued share capital of that body or of any one class of its issued share capital. 

This applies to all members present at the meeting.

None.

RESOLVED:

That, subject to an amendment to minute 73, by the deletion of resolution (d), the minutes of the meeting held on 17 June 2019 be confirmed as an accurate record of the proceedings and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

The Head of Pension Fund and Treasury Management amended her report on submission by the deletion of the prefix “ex” from the left hand column of the table in paragraph 3.3.

RESOLVED:

(a) That the performance of the Fund from 1 April to 30 June 2019, as set out in the BNY Mellon interactive performance report, and detailed in the report of the Interim Corporate Director of Resources, be noted.

(b) That the report of MJ Hudson Allenbridge Advisers on fund managers’ quarterly performance, detailed in Appendix 1 to the report and their presentation, be noted.

(c) That the “LGPS Current Issues” for August 2019, set out in Appendix 2 to the report, be noted.

(d) That officers report to the next meeting with proposals for the Hearthstone Fund

N.B - The content of the presentation was confidential and therefore only non-confidential aspects are recorded below.

Representatives from Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners gave a presentation on the Quinbrook low carbon power fund financial model and underlying assumptions. 

The Fund targeted investments in renewable energy generation, energy storage and gas peaking. The Fund was projected to be fully committed in 2020. As at September 2019, the Fund had circa 600mw of operational onshore wind, 26mw operational solar and 51mw gas peaking. First cash distribution was anticipated in 2020.  Investments were across five platforms in the US, Australia and the UK only.

RESOLVED:

That the presentation be noted.

N.B - The content of the presentation was confidential and therefore only non-confidential aspects are recorded below.

The Sub-Committee received a presentation from Mercer on possible portfolios to support the Fund’s funding and investment objectives, including asset classes for Multi-Asset Credit and Private Debt.

RESOLVED:

(a) That the transition process of the units owned from LCIV Allianz to LCIV RBC and the progress on the issue of withholding tax accrued to the Islington Fund, as detailed in the report of the Interim Corporate Director of Resources, be noted.

(b) That the withholding tax accrued final position and estimated receipt period, also as detailed in the report, be noted.

(c) That the Interim Corporate Director of Resources, in consultation with the Director of Law and Governance, be authorised to negotiate and agree with the LCIV fair recourse in dealing with the withholding tax accrued.

RESOLVED:

That the Actuarial review timetable of the events and processes before 31 March 2020, detailed in paragraph 3.1.2 of the report of the Interim Corporate Director of Resources, be noted.

Members considered that more engagement with companies was needed. To this end, officers were asked to liaise with ShareAction to find out about opportunities for engagement by councillors.

RESOLVED:

That the business plan objectives for the next four years, detailed in paragraph 3.4 of the report of the Interim Corporate Director of Resources, be approved.

Members suggested that it would be helpful to have a clear picture on key matters for them to consider when setting objectives for their various advisers.  They also thought it would be useful to hear from the Sub-Committee’s current advisers.

RESOLVED:

(a) That, in order to define the objectives members wish to set for investment consultants, consideration of this item be deferred to the next meeting.

(b) That the Sub-Committee’s current advisers be invited to submit their observations to the Sub-Committee.

Members of the Sub-Committee suggested that there should be more discussion with LCIV on this matter and asked officers to discuss with the LCIV the views of the Sub-Committee that the LGPS should not be part of the remuneration package to higher salary earners.

RESOLVED:

(a) That the letter from the LCIV on the remuneration policy review, attached as exempt appendix E2, be noted.

(b) That the progress and news to August 2019 in the news briefing “Collective Voice”, also attached as exempt appendix E2, be noted.

RESOLVED:

That the Appendix to the report of the Interim Corporate Director of Resources, detailing agenda items and training topics for forthcoming meetings, be approved.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the exempt appendix be noted.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the exempt appendix be noted.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the exempt appendix be noted.