Agenda and draft minutes

To elect a Chair for this meeting

RESOLVED to elect Councillor Medwyn Hughes as chair  of the meeting.

To receive any apologies for absence

Apologies were received from Councillor John Brynmor Hughes and Councillor John Pughe Roberts (Cyngor Gwynedd)

To receive any declaration of personal interest.

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

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

None to note

To receive the Pension Fund’s Annual Report for 2023/24

Everyone was welcomed to the annual meeting of the Pension Fund.

The Head of Finance introduced the Fund Officers together with Members of the Pensions Committee and Members of the Pension Board to everyone.  He referred briefly to the main responsibilities of the Committee including its role as 'Quasi-trustees' to the Fund, determining the general policy objectives, strategy and operation of the Fund in accordance with relevant legislation. He added that they also determined the strategy for investing the Pension Fund's money and monitored and reviewed investment arrangements. Reference was made to the Committee's work during 2023/24 and it was noted that the reports and minutes of the Committee meetings could be viewed on the Council’s website.

Referring to the work of the Pension Board (the membership included three member representatives and three employer representatives), it was explained that the Board was an oversight body and although the Board had no decision-making powers it would oversee the operation of the Fund ensuring that it met the legal and administrative requirements.
Reference was made to the Board’s work during 2023/24 and it was noted that the reports and minutes of the Pension Board's meetings could be viewed on the Council’s website.

Former Board member, Councillor Beca Roberts, was thanked for her contribution during the year.

Pensions Administration:

The Pensions Manager referred to the main duties of the Administrative Unit and presented the Fund's statistics for 2023/24 and the Unit's performance.

Reporting on the 'My Pension Online' system he noted that over 6,000 had registered with the new site and that the response had been very positive. He added that Gwynedd had been progressive in establishing the Welsh language on the system, and it was hoped that it would be useful for other funds in Wales. He drew attention to the Members' Satisfaction Survey which was sent out to all Fund members at the end of each process, e.g. retirements and payment of back payments, for members to give their opinion on the quality of the service received, and on the service provided by the department's staff.

He reported that over 99% of members either strongly agreed or agreed that the quality of the service was high, and 99% of users either strongly agreed or agreed that the quality of the service provided by the staff was high. To achieve these high scores, it was noted that the employers' cooperation was crucial, and he thanked the employers for their readiness to provide the information promptly and for their commitment to using the i-connect system that reconciled the data.

Attention was drawn to the work / new projects that would continue into 2024/25, noting the McCloud case, the Pensions Dashboard, establishing new administration processes and completing work on Shared Cost AVC benefits as some examples.

Investment Performance

The Investment Manager presented details about the value of the Fund and noted that the value had increased gradually (apart from the impact of Covid in 2020) over the past 10 years, and in 2024  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.