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No. | Item |
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APOLOGIES To receive
any apologies for absence Minutes: Apologies were
received from Councillor Simon Glyn |
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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: None to note |
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The Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the meeting of this committee held on 9 November 2017 to be signed as a true record Minutes: The Chairman
signed the minutes of the previous meeting of this committee that took place on
9 November 2017, as a true record subject to noting that Councillor John
Brynmor Hughes was present. |
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RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT A verbal item on
consensus conclusions (of Pensions Committee and Local Pension Board members
from the informal morning session with Fund advisers) regarding Environmental,
Social and Governance (ESG) factors, to direct the Committee Chairman and Fund
officers, to enable them to represent the Gwynedd Fund view at relevant Wales
Pension Partnership discussions with the Operator on the establishment of
appropriate pooled investment sub funds. Minutes: The Head of
Finance Department reported that Members of the Pensions Committee and members
of the Pensions Board had attended a Responsible Investment training session by
Paul Potter and Simon Jones from Hymans Robertson. It was noted that
it would be possible to respond practically to short term matters by discussing
the steps they were acting upon when considering 'operational ownership' with
the Investment Managers at the Investment Panel meeting on 28 February 2018. In the context of the Wales Pensions Partnership, the Operator will need to
report on their intention to be accountable to responsible investments as the
partnership develops. In response to the observation, members highlighted that better preparation
was required prior to attending the Investment Panel meetings in order to have
an opportunity to consider the information that was shared in advance. It was
suggested that an informal meeting of approximately 1 hour should be held, with
no representative from any company present, to discuss the information and have
an opportunity to draw-up questions. It was agreed that this was an appropriate
arrangement. A proposal was made for the Head of Finance Department to request
information from the Investment Managers in advance, and to arrange informal
meetings prior to the meeting of the Panel. Arrangement to be trialled for 28
February 2018. It was added that
there was an intention to invite the Blackrock company to an imminent meeting
of the Panel in order to explain the different options from the passive
investments they offered, including the new "MSCI Low Carbon" fund.
It was accepted that this was an opportunity to receive additional information
which would widen the horizon of Committee members. The Head of Finance Department reiterated that Paul Potter from Hymans had
offered to prepare a report, to be discussed at the Investment Panel, that
would outline the agreed investment principles of members and Gwynedd officers
based on responses to the questionnaire on the training session. The intention
was for the Panel to recommend observations from the report to the next
Committee meeting. RESOLVED: To trial holding informal
preparatory meetings prior to the Investment Panel meetings. To invite the
Blackrock company to an imminent meeting of the Investment Panel. To make a
request for Hymans to provide a report on Gwynedd investment principles. |
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WALES PENSIONS PARTNERSHIP To receive a verbal
update from the Head of Finance on recent developments Minutes: The Head of Finance Department gave an oral update on Wales Pensions
Partnership developments. Following a press release, it was confirmed that Link Asset
Services had been appointed as operator for the partnership's fund following a
thorough procurement process by the Wales Pension Partnership and the
consultants, Hymans Robertson and Burges Salmon. It was reported
that Link would jointly establish and maintain an investment vehicle which
would be tax-efficient on behalf of the Wales Pension Partnership. It was added
that Link, with the assistance of Russell Investments (in an investment
consultant role), and in consultation with the eight single local authority
funds, had started to plan the process of appointing investment managers
companies. It was highlighted
that appointing Link was a positive step and a milestone on the journey of
establishing a Collective Investment Vehicle, in accordance with the
requirements of the Westminster Government. It was reported that the process
had now entered an establishment period and that a project plan had been
programmed. The intention was
that Link, with the support of the Wales Pensions Partnership, would initially
establish one Global Equity sub-fund, in order to show that they were
'operational' on time, and then undertake detailed work on structures prior to
launching other sub-funds. It would be possible to trial one sub-fund in order
to have an opportunity to adapt and review the amount to invest in it as
appropriate. Link would submit a document to the Governance Joint Committee in
March, which would detail all of the other sub-funds and their timelines. RESOLVED to accept the information. |