Agenda and minutes

(if any) – receive.

There were no apologies for absence.

Members are invited to disclose any interest in any of the items on the agenda at this point of the meeting.

Members may still disclose any interest in any item at any time prior to the consideration of the matter.

There were no disclosures of interests.

Attached for noting by the Committee.

The protocol was noted by the Committee.

To approve as correct the minutes of the meeting held on 12 November 2020 (attached).

Cllr Ower stated that he was not shown at present in the previous minutes and asked for this to be corrected.

The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 12^th November 2020 were otherwise agreed as a correct record and, due to COVID-19, will be signed by the Chairman at a later date.

Report and appendix attached.

The Committee received the updated Risk Register for the Havering Pension Fund, detailing potential risks the Fund could have been exposed to.

The Committee noted there were 2 areas of risk to be added to the register as recommended by the Local Pension Board. The Committee noted the inclusions within Risk area 3- Failure of investments to perform in line with growth expectations and Risk area 5 – Inability to manage the Pension Fund and associated services.

The Committee:

1. Noted the additional risks considered and recommendations by the Local Pension Board summarised in Section 2.6

2.    Agreed to the updated Risk Register.

Report and appendix attached.

The Committee received an annual report, produced by Hymans, which summarised the fund managers’ voting and engagement activities for the 12 months to June 2020.

The Committee noted that the Fund had investment through 3 managers across seven mandates with equity exposure. Vast majority of votes eligible to be exercised were voted. Members noted 3 focus areas that were being monitored by Hymans, being; Labour Practises, Diversity and Climate Change.

The Committee:

1. Noted Hymans summary review of fund manager voting and engagement activity attached as Appendix A.
2. Noted the recommendations as set out in Appendix A and,
3. Agreed to continue to engage with London CIV to progress and investigate the possibility of adopting a combined pool policy and,
4. Considered and agreed to select diversity, labour practises and climate change be actively monitored.

Report and appendix attached.

The report put before the Committee outlined to members the updated Funding Strategy Statement.

It was noted that the Statement was last updated in December 2019 and had been updated to reflect regulation changes in regard to permitting the fund to determine amount of exit credits payable to an employer leaving the LGPS and, enables deferment of exit payments in return for a deferred debt agreement, to obtain revised employer rates and the ability for employers to spread exit payments. Members noted the changes went out for consultation and no comments were received.

The Committee:

1. Agreed the updated Funding Strategy Statement attached as Appendix A which reflected the changes set out in regulations.

Report and appendix attached.

The report presented to the Committee was the annual report from the Local Pension Board.

The Committee noted the Board met 4 times in the year 19-20, all 4 positions were filled and each of the 4 members undertook relevant training. Members noted the compliance checklist was a standing item for the Board and the Board had only spent £1,881 of a budget of £27,900, which included a £10,000 allowance for training that is shared with Committee members.

The Committee:

1. Noted the 2019/20 Local Pension Board Annual Report
2. Agreed the Local Pension Board Annual Report will be published electronically.

To consider whether the public should now be excluded from the remainder of the meeting on the grounds that it is likely that, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, if members of the public were present during those items there would be disclosure to them of exempt information within the meaning of paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972; and, if it is decided to exclude the public on those grounds, the Committee to resolve accordingly on the motion of the Chairman.

The Committee agreed to exclude the Public when discussing Appendix B and C and the Chairman asked for the live webcast to be paused when entering into the exempt appendices.

Report and appendices attached (appendices B and C not available to press or public).

The report presented to the Committee provided members with an overview of the fund investment performance and manager monitoring for the quarter ending 30 September 2020.

Members of the Committee noted that the Fund had grown in value by 2.74%, to £795.83m, with a disinvestment of £40.5million taken into account. The Committee:

1)    Considered Hymans Market Background and Strategic Overview and Manager Performance Report (Appendix A)

2)    Considered Hymans Performance Report and views (Appendix B Exempt)

3)    Received presentation from the London CIV for the Multi Asset, UK Equities funds and Absolute Return fund on the LCIV platform (Appendix C – Exempt)

4)    Considered the quarterly reports sent electronically, provided by each investment manager.

5)    Noted the analysis of the cash balances