Agenda and minutes
Venue: Ystafell Gwyrfai, Council Offices, Caernarfon, Gwynedd. LL55 1SH
Contact: Lowri Haf Evans 01286 679878
No. | Item |
---|---|
ELECT CHAIR To elect a Chair for 2018 - 2019 Minutes: It was decided to
elect Councillor John Pughe Roberts as Chair of this Committee for 2018/19. |
|
ELECT VICE CHAIR To elect a Vice-chair for 2018/19. Minutes: It was decided to
elect Councillor Peredur Jenkins as Vice-chair of this Committee for 2018/19. |
|
APOLOGIES To receive
any apologies for absence Minutes: An apology was
received from Councillor John Brynmor Hughes. |
|
DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST To receive
any declaration of personal interest Minutes: None to note |
|
URGENT ITEMS To note any
items which are urgent business in the opinion of the Chairman so that they may
be considered Minutes: The Head of Finance Department presented certificates to Councillors Simon Glyn and Aled W
Jones for completing basic training. |
|
The Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the meeting of this committee held on 15.03.2018 to be signed as a true record Minutes: The Chair signed the minutes of the meeting of this committee, held on 15 March 2018, as a true record. |
|
ATTENDANCE IN CONFERENCES PDF 44 KB To consider the report of the Head of Finance Additional documents:
Minutes: Information was
presented about relevant conferences in order to select representatives to
attend them. It was reported that the Council sent representatives on a rota
basis to a number of conferences during the year, in order to maintain and
improve skills and knowledge. RESOLVED
to send the below representatives to the conferences: ·
LAPF Strategic Investment Forum, Hertfordshire,
July 2018 Councillors Simon Glyn and Peter Read to check
whether they could attend, with Councillor Stephen Churchman as a reserve, and
no officers. ·
LGC Investment Summit, Newport, September 2018 Councillors John Pughe Roberts and Peredur Jenkins
to attend, with the Head of Finance Department. ·
Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF) annual
conference, Bournemouth, December 2018 Councillor John Pughe Roberts and Caroline Roberts
(Investment Manager) to attend, with a representative of the Board. ·
LGPS Governance Conference, Bristol, January
2019 Councillors John Brynmor Hughes and Robin Williams
to attend, with an officer and a representative from the Board, and with
Councillor John Pughe Roberts as a reserve. ·
Russell Investments annual summit, London, November
2018 Councillors John Pughe Roberts and Peter Read to
attend, with the Head of Finance Department. |
|
PENSION MEETING DATES PDF 59 KB To consider the report of the Head of Finance Minutes: Submitted, for
information, a report by the Head of Finance Department, noting the dates of
pensions meetings for the year 2018 / 2019 so that the members could note the
dates in their diaries and plan ahead accordingly. It was noted that
the LGPS Governance Conference was held in Bristol on 17-18 January 2019 which
conflicted with a meeting of the Pensions Committee. It was proposed to change
the date of the Pensions Committee to 21 January 2019 so that Members and
Officers could attend the conference. Reference was made
to the dates of the Investment Panel that was held every quarter to scrutinise
the performance of the Pension Fund's investments. It was noted that these were
held in London and Caernarfon and it was confirmed that the dates for the
Caernarfon meetings would be 21 February 2019 and 16 May 2019. RESOLVED to accept the information and to amend the date of the Pensions
Committee in January 2018 to the 21st. |
|
EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC The Chairman shall propose that the press and
public be excluded from the meeting during the discussion on the following item
due to the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 14
of Schedule 12A of the Local Government act 1972 Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any
particular person (including the authority holding that information). There is an acknowledged public interest in
openness in relation to the use of public resources and related financial issues.
It is also acknowledged that there are occasions, in order to protect the
financial interests of public authorities that matters related to commercial
information need to be discussed without being publicised. Publication of such
information in relation to investment intentions and selection of proposed
investment companies could have a negative impact on commercially sensitive
activities. This would be contrary to
the wider public interest of securing value for money and the best overall
outcome and for those reasons the matter should be exempt in the public
interest. Minutes: RESOLVED to exclude the press and public from the meeting during the
discussion on the following item due to the likely disclosure of exempt
information as defined in paragraph 14, Schedule 12A of the Local Government
Act 1972 - information about the financial or business transactions of any
specific person (including the authority that retains that information). There
is an acknowledged public interest in openness in relation to the use of public
resources and related financial issues. It is also acknowledged that there are
occasions, in order to protect the financial interests of public authorities
that matters related to commercial information need to be discussed without
being publicised. Publication of such information in relation to investment
intentions and selection of proposed investment companies could have a negative
impact on commercially sensitive activities. This would be contrary to the
wider public interest of securing value for money and the best overall outcome
and for those reasons the matter should be exempt in the public interest. For
these reasons, the matter was closed for the public interest. |
|
ASSET ALLOCATION TO THE WALES PENSION PARTNERSHIP GLOBAL EQUITY FUNDS To consider the report of the Head of Finance (Copies for Committee members only) Minutes: Submitted - a report of the Head of Finance Department, asking the Committee for the right to act, in consultation with the Committee Chair, on allocating assets
to the global equity funds of the Wales Pension Partnership. It was noted that regular
updates had been submitted to the Committee on the progress of the Wales Pension Partnership (WPP) in setting up
an investment pool, in accordance
with the requirements of Westminster. It was explained that the aims of the Government were improved investment outcomes, reduced risk and reduced
costs whilst enabling each constituent
authority to implement its own investment
strategy. Following advice from the WPP Operator, and to demonstrate the scale of the pooling to the Government, actively managed global equity was chosen as the type of assets for the initial funds, and it was noted that Link and
Russell gave a presentation
to Committee members on 15 March, and informal meetings were held on
30 April and 17 May, where expert advice
was received from the consultant Hymans Robertson on the matter. RESOLVED: ·
In accordance with recommendation A, that the
Pensions Committee supports
the Wales Pension Partnership
in setting up two funds,
and to include those in the prospectus
that will be presented to the Financial Conduct
Authority. ·
In accordance with recommendation B, that the
Pensions Committee delegate
the power to the Head of
Finance Department to re-allocate
80% of the actively managed
global equity by the Fund, equally between
Fund 1 and Fund 2 of the Wales Pension Partnership. The meeting commenced at 2:00pm and concluded at 2:30pm. |