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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 5, Town Hall, Upper Street, N1 2UD. View directions

Contact: Mary Green  Telephone: 0207 527 3005

Items
No. Item

196.

Apologies for absence

Minutes:

Received from Alan Begg (observer) and Councillor Mick O’Sullivan.

197.

Declaration of substitutes

Minutes:

None.

198.

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

199.

Minutes of the previous meeting pdf icon PDF 69 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 21 June 2021 be confirmed as an accurate record of proceedings and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

200.

Pension Fund performance - April to June 2021 pdf icon PDF 129 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members noted the overall satisfactory performance of the Fund. However, members noted that the Diversified Growth Fund, held by Schroders, was behind the target over three years and agreed to keep this under review.

 

RESOLVED:

(a) That the performance of the Fund from 1 April to 30 June 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 August 2021 “LGPS Current Issues”, attached as Appendix B to the report, be noted.

(d) That the Fund’s annual performance report to March 2021 compared to the LA Universe, attached as Appendix 2 to the report, be noted.

 

201.

Draft Funding Strategy Statement Consultation with Employers pdf icon PDF 119 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Maggie Elliott, Vice-Chair of the Pensions Board, reported that the Board had also considered this report and had agreed that the draft Funding Strategy Statement attached to the report be used for consultation with employers over proposed changes, with the addition of a two-page introductory letter from the Head of Pension Fund and Treasury Management, highlighting the changes.

 

RESOLVED:

(a) That the summary of the main updates to the draft Funding Strategy Statement, appended to the report of the Corporate Director of Resources, be noted as the basis for consultation with employers between September and October 2021.

(b) That officers update the Funding Strategy Statement, with the Fund Actuary, for consultation with employers admitted into the Islington Fund.

202.

Annual review and progress on the 2019 - 2023 Pension business plan pdf icon PDF 80 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

 

 

 

Members noted that there was no explicit mention of “net zero carbon” in the key objectives of the business plan set out in paragraph 3.4 of the report and discussed whether the action plan needed to be more specific on how this was to be achieved.

 

 

RESOLVED:

(a) That the action plan to achieve the objectives of the Pension Fund Business Plan, appended to the report of the Corporate Director of Resources, be noted.

(b) That it be noted that the Head of Pension Fund and Treasury Management would amend the action plan to include specific actions as to how net zero carbon is to be achieved by 2050 and that an amended version of the action plan be submitted to the next meeting for review and approval.

203.

Pension Fund Forward Plan pdf icon PDF 97 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

That, subject to the addition of a report to the schedule of items for the meeting on 23 November 2021 on the next steps on net zero carbon targets, the appendix to the report of the Corporate Director of Resources, detailing agenda items for forthcoming meetings, be approved.

 

204.

Third generation indices review-passive equities pdf icon PDF 111 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

(a)To the exempt Mercer presentation be noted.

(b) That the Fund’s Responsible Policy be updated to reflect the new Net Zero commitment and its carbon emission reduction target of 49% by 2026 and 60% by 2030.

(c) That it be noted that the 31 March 2021 carbon foot printing exercise identified

the in-house UK equity and RAFI Emerging Market equity allocations (c12% of total assets) as the largest contributors to the overall carbon footprint of the Fund.

(d) That officers and investment advisers be authorised to explore with the recommended two service providers (exempt appendix), their offerings in more detail to agree the preferred indices and provider(s).

(e) That officers submit a progress report on the preferred indices and provider(s) and an implementation plan.

 

205.

London CIV update pdf icon PDF 92 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

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

 

206.

Third generation indices review-passive equities - exempt appendix

Minutes:

Noted.

207.

London CIV update - exempt appendices

Minutes:

Noted.