Agenda and minutes

www.swansea.gov.uk/DisclosuresofInterests

In accordance with the Code of Conduct adopted by the City and County of Swansea, the following interest was declared: -

Councillor P Downing - agenda as a whole - my brother works for the Council and contributes to the Pension Fund.

NOTED that Councillor P Downing had received dispensation from the Standards Committee in this respect. 

Councillor C E Lloyd – agenda as a whole – my father is a member of the Local Government Pension Scheme – personal.

Councillor D G Sullivan - agenda as a whole - I am in receipt of a Local Government Pension - administered by Dyfed Pension Scheme - personal.

To approve & sign the Minutes of the previous meeting of the Pension Fund Committee as a correct record.

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Pension Fund Committee held on 17 December 2015 be approved as correct record, subject to the following amendment: -

Minute No.35 – Review of the Current Abatement Policy – Paragraph 1 – amend the spelling of ‘asses’ to ‘assess’.

In the absence of the Wales Audit Office, the Chief Treasury and Technical Officer presented the Annual Audit Plan 2016/17.

It was outlined that under the Code of Audit Practice the external auditor must examine and certify whether the City and County of Swansea Pension Fund Accounting Statements were “true and fair”.  The purpose of the plan was to set out the proposed work, when it will be undertaken, how much it would cost and who will undertake it.  There had been no limitations imposed upon the external auditor in planning the scope of this audit and his responsibilities, along with those of management and those charged with governance were set out at Appendix 1 of the report.

It was added that the external auditor had responsibility to issue a report on the accounting statements for the year ending 31 March 2016.  The financial audit risks which he considered to be significant were set out at Exhibit 2 along with the work the external auditor intended to undertake to address these risks.  The estimated fee for 2016 was set out at Exhibit 3 and the timetable for work was provided at Exhibit 5.

RESOLVED that the contents of the report be noted. 

The Chief Treasury and Technical Officer provided a ‘for information’ report regarding updated investment regulations response to consultation.   The report presented the response of the City & County of Swansea Pension Fund Committee to the consultation exercise by DCLG.

The Chief Treasury and Technical Officer provided a ‘for information’ report regarding investment reform criteria response to consultation.   The report presented the submitted response of the City & County of Swansea Pension Fund Committee to the consultation exercise undertaken by DCLG which had previously been approved by the Committee.

Discussions followed in relation to the proposed pooling arrangements.

The Chief Treasury and Technical Officer presented the City & County of Swansea Pension Fund Business Plan 2016/17.  The report provided a working framework for the Pension Fund’s programme of work and the business plan for 2016/17 was included at Appendix 1.

The Pension Fund Risk Register 2016/17 was provided at Appendix 2 and the Pension Fund Budget 2016/17 was provided at Appendix 3.

The Committee discussed how external factors had influenced matters.

RESOLVED that: - 

1)    The contents of the report be noted and approved;

2)    A training plan be proposed for the Pension Fund Committee.

The Committee was requested to exclude the public from the meeting during consideration of the item(s) of business identified in the recommendation(s) to the report on the grounds that it/they involve(s) the likely disclosure of exempt information as set out in the exclusion paragraph of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) (Wales) Order 2007 relevant to the item(s) of business set out in the report.

The Committee considered the Public Interest Test in deciding whether to exclude the public from the meeting for the items of business where the Public Interest Test was relevant as set out in the report.

RESOLVED that the public be excluded for the following items of business.

(CLOSED SESSION)

The report presented the economic update and market commentary from the perspective of the appointed Independent Investment Advisors.  Mr N Mills provided an economic and market update and Mr V Furniss provided an investment report for the quarter ended 31^st December 2015.

The content of each report was noted by the Committee and the Independent Advisors were thanked for their reports.

The Chief Treasury and Technical Officer provided a “for information” report which presented the investment performance for the quarter year ended 31^st December 2015.  Attached at Appendix 1 of the report were the Quarterly Investment Summaries for the Pension Fund for the quarter ended 31^st December 2015. 

(1)  A joint presentation was provided by Simon Betteley, Brendan Galloway

      and John Ware on behalf of Blackrock. 

(2)  A joint presentation was provided by Terry Purcell, Christoph Englisch

      and Tim Haston on behalf of Permal / Entrust.

Questions in relation to the content of the presentations were asked at the end of each presentation by the Committee and responses were provided by the respective Fund Managers. 

The contents of the presentations were noted and the Chair thanked each of the Fund Managers for attending the meeting.