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Agenda and minutes

Items
No. Item

98.

Apologies for absence

Minutes:

Received from Councillor Andy Hull.

99.

Declaration of substitutes

Minutes:

Councillor  David Poyser substituted for Councillor Andy Hull.

100.

Declaration of interests

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.

  

Minutes:

Councillor Paul Convery declared a personal interest as a member of the Pension Fund.

101.

Minutes of the previous meeting pdf icon PDF 67 KB

Minutes:

 

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 10 September 2019 be confirmed as an accurate record of proceedings and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

102.

Pension Fund performance from 1 July to 30 September 2019 pdf icon PDF 115 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

(a) That the performance of the Fund from 1 July to 30 September 2019, as set out in the BNY Mellon interactive performance report, and detailed in the report of the 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.

 

103.

Presentation from Legal and General - monitoring current position of equity protection strategy

Minutes:

Richard Lubbock, Client Manager, and Femi Bart- Williams, Senior Solutions  Strategy Manager, Legal and General, gave an overview of the equity protection strategy.  Options were performing as expected and provided protection during market downturns, whilst the Fund continued to participate during equity market growth. Current options were due to expire in March 2020, before which time the Sub-Committee would have to decide whether to let the options expire, or approve a different equity protection structure.

 

Richard Lubbock and Femi Bart-Williams were thanked for their presentation.

104.

Equity protection strategy - review pdf icon PDF 73 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

(a) That Mercer’s presentation paper on equity protection (exempt appendix E3) and their presentation be noted.

(b) That, having considered the options, current options continue beyond March and June. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

105.

Decarbonisation Policy monitoring - climate scenario analysis pdf icon PDF 112 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

(a) That the climate scenario analysis of the Fund produced by Mercer, attached as exempt appendix 1 to the report of the Corporate Director of Resources, be noted.

(b) That the climate-related investment impact, as detailed in the e

exempt appendix, be noted.

(c) That officers continue to monitor the decarbonisation policy.

106.

Setting objectives for providers of investment consultancy services pdf icon PDF 100 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

(a) That the legal requirement for trustees of occupational pensions (including LGPS) to set strategic objectives for investment consultancy providers with effect from 10 December 2019 be noted, as detailed in the report of the Corporate Director of Resources.

(b) That the draft objectives set out in Appendix 1 of the report to monitor the performance of Islington’s investment consultancy provider be approved.

(c) That the objectives be reviewed at least annually, or when there is a change in the Fund’s requirements.

107.

2019 Actuarial valuation - Draft Funding Strategy Statement for consultation (for information) pdf icon PDF 103 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

(a) That the summary of the main updates in the draft Funding Strategy Statement, upon which employers were to be consulted between December 2019 and January 2020, as detailed in paragraph 3.1.2 of the report of the Corporate Director of Resources, be noted.

(b) That officers and the Fund Actuary update the Funding Strategy Statement for consultation with employers admitted to the Fund.

108.

London CIV update pdf icon PDF 92 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

(a) That the progress and activities detailed in the news briefing “Collective Voice – October”, attached as exempt appendix 1 to the report of the Corporate Director of Resources, be noted.

(b) That the letter from the CEO at London CIV on the update after remuneration policy review, attached as exempt appendix 2 to the report, be noted only  at this stage.

(c) That officers explore alternative pooling opportunities and report back to the Committee in due course.

 

 

 

 

109.

Pension Fund Forward Plan 2019/20 pdf icon PDF 95 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

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

110.

Pension administration performance - amendment to regulations (N.B. - This report is also to be considered by the Pensions Board. Assuming the proposals in the report are agreed, the Pensions Sub-Committee is to be asked to approve the necessary changes to the regulations) pdf icon PDF 106 KB

Minutes:

The Sub-Committee noted that the Pensions Board, which had met immediately prior to this meeting, had considered and approved the recommendations in the report on “Pensions administration performance”, including a recommendation that the Sub-Committee agree an amendment to regulation 40, 43 and 46 of the LGPS, concerning employer discretions.

 

RESOLVED:

That, in order to avoid any delay in the payment of death grants to the executor of the estate of a deceased member, the Chief Executive, the Head of Treasury Management and Pension Fund, the Chief Accountant and the Director Service Finance be authorised to sign off payment of death grants, in the absence of the Corporate Director of Finance and Property.

111.

Investment Strategy update- Hearthstone pdf icon PDF 107 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

(a) That the summary findings detailed in the exempt appendix to the report (agenda item E4) be noted.

(b) That officers, in consultation with the Chair of the Pensions Sub-Committee, be authorised to consider and agree with Hearthstone other proposals that will help make the Fund more attractive to investors and reduce Islington’s holdings over time.

 

 

 

112.

London CIV update - exempt appendices

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the exempt appendix be noted.

113.

Decarbonisation Policy monitoring - climate scenario analysis - exempt appendix

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the exempt appendix be noted.

 

114.

Equity protection strategy - review - exempt appendix

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the exempt appendix be noted.

 

115.

Investment Strategy update- Hearthstone - exempt appendix

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the exempt appendix be noted.