Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chairman for 2016/17

Resolved to elect Sharon Warnes (Members' Representative) as Chair of the Committee for 2016 - 2017

To elect a Vice Chair for 2016/17

Resolved to elect Huw Trainor (North Wales Police) as Vice-chair of the Committee for 2016 - 2017

To receive any apologies for absence

Apologies were received from Anthony Deakin (Cartrefi Conwy) and Victoria Hallaron (Cartrefi Cymunedol Gwynedd)

Councillor Stephen Churchman (Chair of the Pensions Committee) was welcomed to the meeting. Reference was made to the intention to invite him to every meeting.

To receive any declaration of personal interest

No declarations of personal interest were received from any members present.

To note any items which are urgent business in the opinion of the Chairman so that they may be considered

None to note

The Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the meeting of this committee   held on 9.3.2016 be signed as a true record.

The Chair signed the minutes of the previous meeting of this committee, held on 9 March 2015, as a true record.

In response to a question, it was noted that the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) had not responded to the investment regulations consultation.

To submit, for information, minutes of the Pensions Committee meeting held on the 9.6.16

The minutes of the Pensions Committee held on 9.6.16 were accepted for information. The Chair of the Committee gave a brief background of the work of the Pensions Committee.

Huw Trainor was nominated to attend the next meeting of the Committee as an observer

To consider the report of the Head of Finance

Submitted – the report of the Head of Finance Department notifying Board members of the progress towards pooling investments. It was noted that a report had been submitted to the Pensions Committee on 9 June 2016 providing an update on the investment pooling consultation for the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) pensions funds in England and Wales.

The following points were highlighted:

·      Confirm the intention to proceed to use a third party operator for joint-investment

·      It was confirmed that individual funds would continue to have control over their own investment strategies (allocating to categories of assets)

·      Investment transfer discussions needed to be held to consider arrangements and implementation

·      That there was a need to engage regarding the role of Pension Boards, and whether a Pension Board for Wales would be needed

·      A Joint-committee (including Chairs of Pension Committees and Chief Officers) would be established to monitor and challenge the work of the operator Eversheds company had been appointed to advise on the constitution of the Joint-Committee - principles had been established

·      The Government would not give guidance in terms of the % of the fund to be invested in infrastructure - the Pool would be expected to make a statement of ambition (5% - 10%).

·      It was difficult to identify savings from the process - the Government would not insist that the Pool would adhere to its estimated saving

During the ensuing discussion the following points were highlighted:

·         In the context of the categories of assets it was noted that risk and performance needed to be monitored. Discussions regarding fund rationalisation would need to be held in order to take advantage of the value / size

·         There would be advantages of establishing a Pension Board for Wales

·         Would there be an opportunity for Members to be a part of the management procedure? The suggestion had already been made by Unison

·         Would CEM Benchmarking be monitoring the situation in the context of costs and savings?

It was outlined that the decision of the Pensions Committee was 'to delegate the power to the Head of Finance Department, in consultation with the Chair of the Committee, to agree on the content of the Wales Pool presentation to the DCLG in July 2016'. It was intended to circulate a copy of the presentation to members of the Pensions Committee and members of the Pension Board. All were reminded that there would be confidential elements to the report.

The information was accepted.

To consider the report of the Senior Communication Officer

Submitted – for information, the report of the Pension Fund's Senior Communication Officer highlighting to Board Members the communication methods used by the Gwynedd Pension Fund to communicate with fund members. It was highlighted that the fund had over 16 thousand members and the report listed the different methods of communication used to ensure that they received the best service. It was reported that every attempt was made to discuss with members face to face, but that there was a campaign currently underway to try to maximise the use of the self-service facility on the website. It was acknowledged that the use of the self-service facility needed to be promoted further and that a circular would be sent to every member with the annual statement. It was also acknowledged that there was a need to promote further use of the website which, by adapting processes, would save time and money into the future.

In response to a question regarding the possibility of using skype and video-conferencing meetings to communicate with members, it was noted that this would be considered, together with other suggestions to improve communication with fund members.

The report was accepted and the team were thanked for their work

To consider the report of the  Senior Communication Officer

Submitted – the report of the Pension Fund's Senior Communication Officer highlighting the draft Communication Policy which had been amended to include recent regulations.

Under the Local Government Pension Scheme's Regulations, there was a legal requirement for the Gwynedd Pension Fund to publish a Communication Policy Statement. The Gwynedd Pension Fund Communication Policy Statement had been created to ensure clear communication to all various stakeholders of the Local Government Pension Scheme.

The main methods of communication were highlighted and it was added that the Unit was always looking for new ideas to improve their service.

In response to a question it was noted that most information forms were available on the website and that further work needed to be done to promote the use of the website.

It was reported that the final policy would be submitted to the Pensions Committee for approval.

The content of the policy was accepted.

To consider the report of the Investment Manager

Submitted - the report of the Investment Manager highlighting a process for monitoring the performance of the pension fund investments. Though a request had been made by Board members for a quarterly report, it was highlighted that this was not effective as trends which were broader than the quarterly period needed to be considered (it was too short a period to assess the performance of investors).

It was reported that the Pensions Committee met as an Investment Panel every quarter where they received detailed information from the investment managers on their performance. It was suggested that the Pension Board could assess performance annually, as well as assess the process.

In response to a question regarding submitting adequate information for the Pension Board to scrutinise, it was suggested that the CEM Benchmarking guidelines could be looked at. Whilst noting that this was possibly premature for the time being, the suggestion that Pension Board members needed to be able access information for them to better understand the process was accepted, and that the best way of implementing this needed to be considered.

The information was accepted.

Verbal update from the Head of Finance

The valuation timetable was circulated. It was noted that the appropriate information needed to be submitted to the actuary by 17 July 2016. It was noted that work was currently underway to ensure that the information was accurate and clean. The final meeting with the employers would be at 10:00am, 10 November 2016 (with an invitation for Pensions Committee and Board members).

In response to a question regarding maximising the use of the i-Connect system, it was suggested that discussions between the Pensions Unit and Huw Trainor needed to continue in order to consider the possibilities shortly after the busy period of the valuation. The advantages of using the system included imposing adaptations / corrections to data on a monthly basis rather than annually, which would reduce the pressure during the period of transferring the data to the actuary.

The information was noted

To consider  the report of the Investment Manager

Submitted – the report of the Investment Manager notifying the members of the results of a short survey undertaken by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) on the Local Pension Boards. The purpose of the survey was to seek to provide a baseline on the establishment and operations of Pension Boards. It was reported that Gwynedd Council had responded to the survey and that the result provided an opportunity to assess how the Gwynedd Pension Board compared with other Pension Boards. The intention was for CIPFA to use the information in order to develop discussion sessions for workshops.

It was reported that Gwynedd Council acted in line with other Pension Boards and that the survey had not suggested changes to the procedure.

In response to an observation regarding submitting an annual report, the Chair highlighted that she had already started to write a draft report and that there was a request for observations to be forwarded to her. It was intended to submit the final report to the Annual Meeting of the Pension Fund on 15 September 2016.

The information was noted

To consider the report of the Senior Communication Officer

Submitted - the amended work plan for the year 2016 - 2017.

It was suggested that the item 'Update on Investment Pooling' should be included as a standing item.

·         Following the decision in item 11 above (Fund Investment Performance), this would be discussed on an annual basis not quarterly.

The work plan was accepted

Receive feedback from members who attended the LGPS Trustees Conference 23.6.16 and 24.6.16

It was reported that the conference had been interesting with good speakers presenting information. It was suggested that further notes from the conference would be shared with the members and the officers.

A request was made for officers to look into indemnity insurance cover for the Pension Board.

Receive feedback from members who attended the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and Impact investing Workshop / seminar in Cardiff 22.4.16

Notes from the conference were circulated by the Chair for the officers to consider when discussing investments.

In response, it was reported that it would be possible to present the information from the conferences for Hymans to consider.