Agenda item

To receive and note the information. 

DECISION

To accept and note the quarterly update of the Wales Pension Partnership

The Investment Manager highlighted that this was now a regular report that would be presented to Members to note the latest information on the Wales Pension Partnership's work along with the decisions of the March meeting of the Joint Governance Committee (JGC - the Partnership's decision-making body made up of the Chairs of each fund). After an update at a recent information session following the establishment of the WPP IM Co, it was noted that this was the final Joint Governance Committee in its current form. ⁠⁠

The Business Plan for 2025/26 was reviewed, and future business plans were submitted to the Joint Committee; the business plan which highlighted how the current Wales Pension Partnership would operate during the transitional period, as well as the WPP IMCo Business Plan for the 2026 year. These documents were approved at the Gwynedd Pensions Committee meeting on 16-03-2026.

An update was given on the operator's work and the funds established by the Partnership as well as details on the operator's work over the period and any market conditions that they monitor. In the context of the funds' performance, it was noted that they had faced challenging conditions with the volatile market during the period in question.

Reference was made to the work that the Wales Pension Partnership had made regarding the attitude towards exceptions, with responsible investment policies now updated to encompass many exceptions, such as power from thermal coal, controversial weapons and companies in persistent breach of rules.

The members thanked the officer for the report

Observations arising from the ensuing discussion:

·        That the Committee's role would change substantially - the role appeared to be a scrutiny role instead of a responsible role.

·        There was a need to ensure that the Fund's Members received good returns - was there a conflict here with the Westminster Government using Local Government Fund money for their own purposes? Needed to ensure that there was no conflict.

·        That the Committee needs to be awake to its new role.

·        A suggestion that Committee Members should have meetings with the Fund's Managers so that they could obtain current information about investments - concern, should IMCo mis-invest, the Committee Members would be likely to blamed for mis-investing the money of the Gwynedd Fund's participants.

·        The Committee needed assurance that the interests of the Fund's Members were the priority.

In response to a question regarding 'the extraction of unconventional gas and oil reserves' and whether this included fracking, the Investment Manager noted that he would seek the information and report back to the Committee. Similarly, they would also seek to respond to a question about what the definition of the word 'controversial' in the context of prohibitions being applied to investments in companies relating to the production of controversial weapons. It was reiterated, with the Government intending to contribute an additional £15 billion towards the Transformation of the UK's Armed Forces, and similar opportunities arising for businesses and investing in technologies for the Armed Forces, it was considered that more information about the situation would be advantageous.

In response to a comment regarding the Wales Pension Partnership's ongoing use of the name Operation Snowdon instead of Prosiect Yr Wyddfa, it was noted that Members and Officers continued to push to highlight the change but that there was no action on the matter. The Head of Finance noted that this was frustrating, but with the project now over, the hope was that there would be no more mention of it in moving forward.

In response to a question regarding how to influence the spending on infrastructure and if opportunities come locally to invest in projects to improve the living standards of those areas that contributed to the Fund, it was noted that the main cornerstone of the Fit for the Future consultation was the use of the Fund members' money. It was reiterated that should opportunities arise, the role of the company would be to look at those opportunities, but the Committee would have to keep focus on returns; the Committee in its role as trustees would need to consider investments with fair returns, without raising hopes locally. The Chair noted that the Committee could identify its own investment opportunities.

RESOLVED

To accept and note the quarterly update of the Wales Pension Partnership.