Agenda and minutes

None.

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.

Councillor Convery declared an interest in items on the agenda as a member of the Scheme.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 23 March 2021 be confirmed as an accurate record of proceedings and the Chair be authorised to sign them

RESOLVED:

(a) That the membership of the Pensions Sub-Committee, appointed by the Audit Committee on 25 May 2021, its terms of reference and dates of meetings for the municipal year 2021/22, as set out at Appendix A to the report of the Corporate Director of Resources, be noted.

(b) That the membership of the Pensions Board, appointed by the Audit Committee on 25 May 2021, its terms of reference and dates of meetings for the municipal year 2021/22, as set out at Appendix A to the report, be noted.

During discussion of managers’ performance, members noted the difference in returns in technical stocks held by Newton. Karen Shackleton undertook to request further information for these differences from the London CIV, since they were responsible for monitoring Newton’s performance.  In response to a member’s question as to whether Islington’s Fund was performing better than, or on a par with, other local authority pension funds, it was reported that last year’s performance figures needed to be treated with caution and that they past three years’ figures were the best indicator. Equities had performed well in the last year for all Funds.   Islington’s performance was better than some other Funds, due to its equity protection contract.

RESOLVED:

(a) That the performance of the Fund from 1 January to 31 March 2021, as per the BNY Mellon interactive performance report and detailed in the report of the Corporate Director of Resources, be noted.

(b) That the presentation by MJ Hudsons Allenbridge, on fund managers’ quarterly performance, attached as Appendix 1 to the report, be noted.

(c) That the May 2021 “LGPS Current Issues”, attached as Appendix B to the report, be noted.

RESOLVED:

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

RESOLVED:

That the progress and activities presented at the May business update session of the London CIV (exempt Appendix1) and news briefing Collective Voice-April, attached as exempt Appendix 1A to the report of the Corporate Director of Resources, be noted.

RESOLVED:

(a) That the due diligence summary report of Key terms and performance comparison, attached as exempt Appendix 1 to the report of the Corporate Director of Resources, be noted.

(b) That the consolidated summary opinions report, attached as Exempt Appendix 2 to the report, be noted.

(c) That the recommendation in exempt appendix 2 that the preferred two managers (one European and one US private debt manager) that best delivered value for money, met the fund’s mandate specification and would deliver returns to keep contributions sustainable, be approved.

(d) That 50% of the fund’s total allocation of 10% be allocated in this first tranche of appointments to give diversification.

(e) That the Corporate Director of Resources, in consultation with the Acting Director of Law and Governance, be authorised to negotiate and agree terms and conditions of the fund management agreement(s) with the recommended and agreed manager(s).

Having sought confirmation from a representative of Mercer, the Committee agreed that their discussions of the information in the exempt appendices would be held in public session of this meeting, though there would be no discussion of the information in the exempt information relating to technical issues.

RESOLVED:

(a)  That the exempt appendices to the report of the Corporate Director of Resources and the presentation provided by Mercer, be noted.

(b) That it be noted that the fund carbon foot printing results as at 31 March 2021 showed the baseline of emissions for the listed portfolio (listed equity and corporate credit) was 66,096 tCO2e and the listed equity portfolio had decarbonised by 32.8% (absolute emission) between 2016 and 2021.

(c) That the next post 2022 decarbonisation targets for the fund in both short and medium term; 2025-26, 2030 and net zero carbon by 2050 be approved as follows:

·       Long term target of 2050 net zero goal

·       Short and medium term target:

Reduction needed for 2022-26 period, c15% from the 2021 baseline

Reduction needed for 2022-30 period, c 26% from the 2021 baseline

Extend the target to cover all listed assets (debt and equity)

·       Islington “green assets” allocation – increase the allocation to 20% to allow 4 years to align with the new target (-> 2026)

 (d) That a further report be submitted to the Sub-Committee in September 2021 to consider action plan and fund changes required to achieve the agreed future targets.