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: No apologies were received. |
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DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST To
receive any declaration of personal interest Minutes: Sharon Warnes declared a personal interest in item 5 on the
agenda, as she was a member of the Grŵp Cynefin Management Board. The member was not of the opinion that it was a prejudicial interest, and she did not withdraw from the meeting during the discussion on the item. |
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URGENT MATTERS To note any items
which are urgent business in the opinion of the Chairman so that they may be
considered Minutes: It was
noted that Tony Deakin and Sharon Warnes had been selected, at the previous meeting on 16 July 2018, to attend the LGPS Governance Conference held in Bristol on 17 - 18 January 2019.
It was explained that Sharon Warnes was unable to
attend the conference and a message had been sent to the Board members asking
them to express their interest in attending the conference. A discussion was held and it was concluded that the booking would be
cancelled. H. Eifion
Jones referred to the fact that there was no item on the agenda in relation to reporting back from conferences, and he noted that he had
attended the Annual Meeting of the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum in
Bournemouth on 5 - 7 December 2018. In response, the Head of Finance Department
noted that there was an item on reporting back from
conferences on the agenda of the Pension Board occasionally. The member noted that he
had sent a copy of the PowerPoint presentations from the conference to the Head
of Finance and the Chair, and he noted that he had very much enjoyed the
session with the former Barclays Bank employee. The Head of Finance Department noted that it was a matter for individuals as to whether they wished to report back from conferences or not. He added that he had received an e-mail from Hymans enclosing a report summarising the presentations at the Bournemouth conference, and that he would forward this to the members. |
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The Chairman shall
propose that the minutes of the meeting of this committee held on 16.07.2018 be signed as a true
record. Minutes: The Chair signed the
minutes of the previous meeting held on 16 July 2018 as a true record, subject
to amending bullet point 3 under item 10 - "General Update on Pensions
Administration" on page 5 to read: ·
Penalty arrangements
needed to be introduced if some employers continued to
create additional work. It was considered that this
was an item for the Committee to consider. It was emphasised that the minutes of the previous meeting were only submitted to the committee to confirm accuracy only. |
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PENSIONS COMMITTEE MINUTES To submit,
for information, minutes of the Pensions Committee meeting held on the 08 11
2018 Minutes: The minutes of the Pensions
Committee held on 8 November 2018, were accepted for
information. A member referred to the Pension
Fund's Investment Strategy and noted the intention to look to invest in Wales
in line with the second principle of the Investment Strategy Statement, whether
the Wales Pensions Partnership would consider investing in the housing market.
She noted that she had recently attended a housing conference and that the
Chair of a Pensions Board in England had noted that the Fund should definitely
invest in the housing market. She elaborated that as a
part of the North Wales Economic Growth Bid there would be opportunities to
collaborate with others in terms of investing in the developments deriving from
the scheme. A member noted that the
Manchester Council Pension Fund invested in the housing market, whilst
Warrington Council borrowed from the Public Works Loans Board (PWLB), rather
than investing the Pension Fund's money. The member added that
this was an issue that required the attention of the Pensions Committee.
In response to the members’
observations, the Head of Finance Department noted that the Pensions Committee,
at its meeting on 8 November 2018, had adopted the Pension Fund's Investment
Strategy Statement. He noted that matters would arise over the coming months
regarding future investment opportunities, noting that the returns needed to be
explicit. He elaborated that these matters would be addressed
by the Wales Pensions Partnership, rather than by the Gwynedd Pensions
Committee. A member noted that it was a
complex subject and that collaborating with others through the Wales Pensions
Partnership was the way forward. A member noted that investing in affordable housing would benefit the Fund's members. |
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PENSION FUND INVESTMENT PERFORMANCE 2018/19 To consider the Investment Managers
Report Minutes: The Investment Manager
submitted a report that elaborated on the procedure of monitoring the
performance of the Pension Fund's investments up to the end of the Second
Quarter of 2018/19. The Head of Finance
Department drew attention to a graph on page 14 of the agenda, which showed the
comparative accumulative quarterly performance per manager for the 2015-18
period. He elaborated that the situation was acceptable and that the
performance was encouraging, when comparing the rate of returns against the
benchmark. RESOLVED to note the information. |
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PENSION ADMINISTRATION To consider the Senior Communication Officer’s Report Minutes: A comprehensive report
was submitted, providing a general overview of pensions
administration over the past six months, along with information about the work
presented over the period, an update on various projects, changes in the
regulations and a list of the challenges faced by the Administration Unit on a
daily basis. During the ensuing
discussion, the members noted the following main observations: ·
Officers were thanked for their work in reconciling the Guaranteed
Minimum Pension (GMP) and for working as a team to fulfil the aim. Some pension
funds were lagging behind in terms of completing the work. ·
In terms of staffing
resources, would the temporary posts continue on the staffing structure? ·
Board members expressed
support for adding to the staffing structure. ·
Was there a final
deadline in relation to the 119 cases of widows designated as 'stalemate' cases
by HMRC? ·
Once the cases had been
resolved, would this affect the individuals? ·
There was no risk to the
Fund as the enquiries had been submitted to HMRC. ·
Had all Fund members
received an Annual Benefit Statement? ·
The Scheme's Advisory
Board was going through the procurement process to develop a system to carry
out a compliance check on assets managers who had committed to the Scheme
Advisory Board's Transparency Code. It was intended
for the system to be live by April 2019 and the development should be
investigated. It would be beneficial for Hymans to give a presentation to
members of the Pensions Board and Committee. ·
The board should
consider the quality of data. ·
Concern about continuity
as experienced officers were approaching retirement. ·
A report for the meeting
of the Pensions Committee on 21 January 2019 in relation to adding posts to the
staffing structure was welcomed. In response to the above
observations, the officers noted that: ·
Other pension funds had
paid external agencies/accountants to complete the work of GMP reconciliation,
at a high cost. The Fund was fortunate that the work could be
completed in-house for a reasonable price. ·
A report would be submitted to the Pensions Committee meeting on 21
January 2019 relating to adding the 3 temporary posts to the staffing structure
on a permanent basis. ·
The Board members'
support to adding to the staffing structure was appreciated. ·
The 119 'stalemate' cases
had been registered with HMRC and that HMRC had a time-frame
in which to resolve the cases by 31 March 2019; however, there could be some
slippage to the time-frame. ·
If a GMP over-payment were identified, this would not affect individuals as they
were not at fault; and should an underpayment be identified, the sum would be
paid out. · Annual Benefit Statements were available for Fund members on-line, and three letters relating to registering on the Members' Self-service website had been sent to members. If members had not registered on-line or had not requested to continue to receive paper copies, they would not have received their statement. In some cases, employers did not note an individual's finish date, and so, consideration would be given ... view the full minutes text for item 7. |
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THE PENSIONS REGULATOR SURVEY To consider the Senior Communication
Officer’s report Additional documents: Minutes: A survey by the Pensions
Regulator was submitted to get the Board's input in order to complete the
survey. It was explained that the closing date for responses was 30 November
2018, but the deadline had been extended by the Regulator in order to get the
Board's input at this meeting. The on-line survey was
completed and submitted to the Pension Regulator's website during the meeting. During the discussion, the following matters
were noted as ones requiring attention: ·
Continuity
arrangements in terms of staffing; ·
The
5 highest risk matters on the risk register; ·
Developing arrangements
to punish employers who continue to generate additional work. |
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SELF SERVICE FOR MEMBERS SYSTEM DEMONSTRATION To consider the Senior Communication
Officer’s report Minutes: It was noted that Aquila Heywood provided a Member Self-service system for the Pension Fund. It was explained that the company had developed a new version of the system with a brand new interface. It was noted that the Pensions Committee, at its meeting on 8 November
2018, had approved finance
to upgrade to the new version. In response to a question
from a member about where the data would be kept, the Pensions Manager noted that discussions
were continuing with Aquila Heywood
about hosting the system and amended costs
were being awaited in the hope that the system would be live early
in 2019. RESOLVED to note the information. |