Venue: Ystafell Gwyrfai, Council Offices, Caernarfon, Gwynedd. LL55 1SH
Contact: Lowri Haf Evans 01286 679878
No. | Item |
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APOLOGIES To receive
any apologies for absence Minutes: Apologies were received from Councillors John Brynmor Hughes, Peter
Read and Robin Williams (Anglesey County Council) |
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DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST To receive
any declaration of personal interest Minutes: None to note. |
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URGENT ITEMS To note any
items which are urgent business in the opinion of the Chairman so that they may
be considered Minutes: ·
LGPS Governance Conference, Principal Hotel, York 23 - 24 January
2020 It was noted that Councillor Peredur Jenkins was
not available to attend the conference in York. Councillor Aled Wyn Jones was nominated to attend in his place. |
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The Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the meeting of this committee held on 16th May 2019 to be signed as a true record Minutes: The Chair signed
the minutes of the previous meeting of this committee, held on 16 May 2019, as
a true record. |
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GWYNEDD PENSION FUND STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS 2018-19 (POST AUDIT) PDF 58 KB To consider the report of the Head of Finance Additional documents:
Minutes: Submitted, for information, the final accounts for the Gwynedd pension
fund. It was noted that the statement contained
details of the Fund's financial activities for the year ending 31 March 2019.
Along with the accounts, which were subject to an audit by Deloitte, an ISA260
report was submitted on behalf of the Auditor General
for Wales, detailing the auditor's findings. It was reported
that the Audit and Governance Committee had approved the accounts, and the
letter of representation authorised by the Chair of the Audit and Governance
Committee and the Head of Finance Department at the Committee meeting on 29
July 2019. Reference was made to two of the Fund's key strategies, the finance
strategy statement and the investment strategy statement. Attention was drawn to the Fund's account, which noted the value of
the Fund as it stood on 31 March 2019. There was an increase of £143 million in
net assets over the 2018-2019 year, which brought the value of the Fund to over
£2 billion. The increase in
expenditure on asset management fees was explained
and, in response to an observation, the fall in contributions between 2017-2018
and 2018-2019 was explained. This was because 2017-2018 had been a year in
which three years' worth of deficit recovery contributions were made (reference
was made to note 7 in the report). RESOLVED to accept -
the Statement of the Accounts 2018-19 (post audit) -
the ISA260 Deloitte Report for the Gwynedd Pension
Fund -
the Letter of
Representation |
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GWYNEDD PENSION FUND ANNUAL REPORT 2018/19 PDF 103 KB To consider the report of the Head of Finance Additional documents: Minutes: A draft version of
the Gwynedd Pension Fund Annual Report was presented
and which provided a review of the 2018-2019 year, a management report and
details of the Fund's financial activities. The Head of Finance Department
explained that the accounts audit timetable had changed and, consequently, had
provided the opportunity to complete the report sooner than expected. This gave
members the opportunity to make observations before a
making a formal presentation to all employers at the Pension Fund's Annual
General Meeting on 24.10.2019. It was emphasised that the accounts had already been approved and could not therefore be
amended. It was highlighted that the value of the fund on 31 March 2019
was now greater than £2 billion and that the fund's value had been increasing
regularly since 2000. Reference was made to the
membership statistics, noting that the number of pensioners along with the
number of contributors had increased. In response to a comment that this was
perhaps contrary to a consideration in the context of staff numbers,
considering the current climate, it was suggested that part time v full time
work contracts was one explanation. Over the past 12
months, it was explained that the relationship with
the fund's employers had improved, and training workshops had been held to
ensure that the data received was accurate and timely for the accounts. Staff members were thanked for their work and reference was made to the
recognition received in the report of the Auditor General for Wales for the
standard of the work. The Head of
Finance Department took the opportunity to announce that Caroline Roberts
(Investment Manager) and Nicholas Hopkins (Pensions Manager) would be retiring
before the end of the year. Both were thanked for
their hard work over the years. RESOLVED to accept the report |
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INVESTMENT IN THE WALES PENSION PARTNERSHIP PDF 88 KB To consider the
Investment Managers Report Minutes: Submitted - the report of the Investment Manager stating the need for the Committee
to make an official decision to transfer Gwynedd Pension Fund's Insight
Absolute Return Bond Fund. It was reported that Hymans Robertson, at a recent
meeting of the Investment Panel (16 May 2019) had presented and discussed the
options and that the panel resolved to transfer all assets from Insight to a
Wales Pension Partnership Absolute Return Bond Fund. It was also explained, when equity was transferred to the Wales Pension
Partnership, a proportion of the assets were withheld, in order to reduce the
risk by investing in the Wales Pension Partnership Multi Asset Credit Fund. It was reiterated that this transfer from Fidelity would take
place at the same time as the transfer from Insight. RESOLVED in
accordance with the view of the Investment Panel, to confirm investments in the
following Wales Pension Partnership funds: -
Absolute Return Bond Fund (all assets from Insight). -
Multi Asset Credit Fund (worldwide equity assets
from Fidelity). |
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LOW CARBON EQUITY INVESTMENT PDF 84 KB To consider the
Investment Managers report Minutes: Submitted
- the report of the Investment Manager stating the need for the Committee to
confirm low carbon investments. At a recent meeting of the Panel with Hymans
Robertson, possible low carbon investment options were
discussed in order to achieve the 12% strategic benchmark within the
Gwynedd Fund's allocation of 29% of the current permissible equity. The Panel's
view was to invest 12% of the fund's total in the BlackRock World Low Carbon
equity fund. As BlackRock funds were part of the 2016 permissible equity
procurement process held by the Wales Pension Funds, it was
explained that a formal procurement process would be unnecessary. It was reiterated that this investment was responsible and
responded to the Council's requirements and the investment principles of the
Pensions Committee. RESOLVED, in line
with the view of the Investment Panel, that 12% of the Gwynedd Pension Fund
would move from the current general permissive equity allocation with BlackRock
to a low carbon permissive equity fund with BlackRock. |
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TRIENNIAL ACTUARIAL VALUATION 2019 PDF 111 KB To consider the report
of the Head of Finance Additional documents: Minutes: Submitted, for
information, a report by the Head of Finance Department providing general
information and an overview of the current pricing process for conducting a
triennial actuarial valuation, and a proposed timetable. It was explained that the valuation data had been presented to
the actuary on 16 July and that work had already commenced on the response to
further enquiries from Hymans. It was noted that it was the employer's responsibility to
submit accurate and timely information to officers at the Pensions Unit. It was reported that the quality of the data this year was
acceptable at first glance, and that every employer had met the time
requirements. The work of the employers and staff of the Pensions Unit was appreciated. RESOLVED to accept the
information. |
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2019 VALUATION ASSUMPTIONS PDF 63 KB To consider the report
of the Head of Finance Additional documents: Minutes: The report of the
Head of Finance Department was presented in which it
asked the Committee to consider and approve the proposed projections in order
to set funding targets for the Fund's current triannual valuation as on 31
March 2019. The full details of the projections were referred
to in a report received from the Fund's Actuary, and included as an appendix to
the report. It was highlighted that projections had
not been submitted to the Committee previously and it was considered that it
would be appropriate to share the information to ensure transparency. It was
reiterated that the Committee's main priority was to ensure that the fund's
investments were secure, but that work was also being done to keep the pension
fund's balance against employer costs. It was reported that only one change was made to the projections,
that to salary increases. Following advice from Hymans, it was decided
to amend the figure to CPI +0.3% that would respond to higher short term salary
increase expectations, thus reflecting recent trends. A formal consultation would be held with the employer on the projections along
with other amendments to the Funding Strategy Statement of the 2019 valuation
later on in the year. Responding
to an observation that too much information could be complex and the taxpayer
simply wished to see an increase in value, it was noted that
it was appropriate to share the information and the need for new proposals to
seek better investments in the fund should be highlighted. RESOLVED to approve the
proposed projections in order to set the funding target for the Fund's current
triennial valuation as on 31 March 2019. |