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.

To approve as correct the minutes, and associated exempt minutes (where available), of the meetings held on 1^st October 2024, 5^th November 2024 and 10^th December 2024 and authorise the Chairman to sign them.

The minutes and exempt minutes of the previous meeting were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To consider whether the public should now be excluded from any relevenat parts 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.

Documents attached

The Committee received the Monitoring Performance for quarter ending 31^st December 2024.

The Committee noted the notable changes following the US election and the UK Autumn budget. The second year equity markets were up 20% with the fund value at the end of the quarter at £1.018bllion which was an increase of around £20.1million. The Fund had returned 2.1% which was under the 2.7% tactical benchmark. Members were pleased to hear that due to the fund being well diversified, it had been protected against any recession.

The Committee:

1)    Considered Hymans Market Background, Strategic Overview and Manager Performance Report

2)    Considered Hymans Performance Report and views

3)    Received presentation from the Funds Global Infrastructure Manager (Stafford) for an overview on the fund’s performance

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

5)    Noted the analysis of the cash balances.

Documents attached

The Committee received a report on the voting and engagement activity of fund managers.

Havering have a voting right via LGIM and LCIV through Baillie Gifford, SSGA and Ruffer. Across all votes, LGIM against management in roughly 20% of the votes while LCIV ranged from 20% to 8%. It was noted that LGIM voted against Shell as they felt Shell’s strategy was not ambitious enough. They also voted against Uni-President Enterprise Group due to them not aligning with LGIM’s deforestation policy.

The Committee:

1)    Noted Hymans review of Fund Manager Voting and Engagement activity

2)    Considered the recommendations in the report, namely

a.    Comparison of the managers’ voting activity against LAPFF voting alerts.

b.    Assessment of alignment of managers’ voting activity against their stated policies, particularly in relation to climate change.

3)    Considered the next steps as set out in the report

The Committee received a report to review the new employer admission process.

The change was to allow the Strategic Director of Resource to make decisions on admitting new employers to the Fund with an annual report presented at the end of each financial year to the Committee for noting. Members noted the revised process had been cleared with the Council’s legal team and the changes were designed to reduce risk to the Fund and the transferred members.

The Committee noted:

1)    The Strategic Director of Resources would now be responsible for making the decision to allow a scheme employer to be admitted to the Fund

2)    An annual report would be presented to Committee to advise of all employers admitted during the previous financial year.