Agenda and minutes

Venue: Hendon Town Hall, The Burroughs, London NW4 4AX

Contact: Paul Frost  Email: Paul.Frost@Barnet.gov.uk - 0208 359 2205

Items
No. Item

1.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 64 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED – That the Minutes of the meeting held on 24 October 2017 be approved.

2.

Absence of Members

Minutes:

None.

3.

Disclosable Pecuniary interests and Non Pecuniary interests

Minutes:

All members declared a non-disclosable pecuniary Interest by virtue of being beneficiary of LGP Scheme and/or having shareholdings in a number of companies that the fund had invested in.

4.

Public Question and Comments (if any) pdf icon PDF 54 KB

Minutes:

The Pension Fund Committee noted the details of public questions that had been submitted and circulated.

 

 

13.

Representation Form Barnet UNISON

Minutes:

Mr John Burgess the Branch Secretary for Barnet UNISON  was invited by the Chairman to ask questions on behalf of the Barnet UNISON.  He  expressed concerns regarding the recent meeting of the Local Pensions Board relating to poor levels of service provided by Capita in relation to the Pension Administration Service.   He asked a range of questions to the Chairman which were responded to verbally. 

 

Paul James, Head of Public Sector Pensions for Capita outlined that they had made good progress and he assured the Committee that Capita were working closely with the Council in order to implement the improvement plan.   Councillor John Marshall sought assurance that Capita were deploying addition resources, this was positively confirmed.  

 

Resolved:

That the Pension Fund Committee noted the verbal representation from Mr John Burgess and the verbal response.

 

5.

Report of the Monitoring Officer (if any)

Minutes:

None.

6.

Members' Items (if any)

Minutes:

None.

7.

Referred Report - Local Pension Board Performance Overview pdf icon PDF 247 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

 The Chairman invited Profession Alderman to introduce the report.  He stated that he was in attendance to provide a warning to the Pension Fund Committee.    He outlined that the Local Pension Board were keeping a watching brief of the situation.   Professor Alderman requested that the Pension Fund consider section 2.2&2.3 of the report and encouraged the views of the Pension Fund Committee Members.   He further added that he and the Local Pension Board were concerned of the levels of Resources

 

Members of the Pension Fund Committee were given the opportunity to ask Professor Alderman questions.   During this process Professor Alderman noted that there were two key themes that were of concern to the Local Pension Board Members:

-          Communications with pension scheme members

-          Quality of Data

 

Paul James Head of Public Sector Pensions for Capita gave an overview of the work that Capita performed.  He stated that data was being cleansed from 2010 and good progress made been made.

 

Profession Alderman noted that a remedy notice had been issued and a second was likely.   He stated that the Local Pension Board noted that if performance did not improve and a third remedy was issued the Council and the Scheme Manager could consider the management of the administration of the Fund. 

 

The HR Consultant, Mrs Natasha Edmunds stated that Members of the Scheme and Employers will be communicated with as part of a wider communication plan and as a result an Employer Forum is to be established. 

 

The Committee shared the view that there needs to be a common understanding of the scale of the problems and how it can be resolved.    Mrs Edmunds said that the data was 83% accurate and as part of the improvement plan the common data quality score needs to increase and there was a project plan which tracked progress.  She stated that there is a detailed plan which will ensure improvement is made, however she noted that greater analysis is required for conditional data sets to understand the scale of the problem and put in place the appropriate next steps.

 

After considering the contents of the report, the Committee unanimously RESOLVED:

 

Resolved:

-          That the Pension Fund Committee note the performance issues reported to the Local Pension Board in respect of the administration of the London Borough of Barnet Superannuation Scheme.

-          That the Pension Fund Committee requested employee compliance be submitted to the Pension Fund Committee at a future meeting.

-          That the Pension Fund Committee requested that narrative be provided for amber data

8.

Performance for the Quarter to 31st December 2017 pdf icon PDF 301 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

At the last meeting of the Pension Fund Committee on 24 October 2017 it was resolved to invite any relevant Fund Managers to present to the Pension Fund Committee as appropriate.  Therefore the Chairman invited Mr David Moylett and Ms Suzanne Hutchins from Newtons to give their presentation.     The Chairman gave thanks Mr David Moylett and Ms Suzanne Hutchinsfor their update and attendance.

 

The Chairman invited Kevin Cullen and Robert Hall form the London CIV who provided a representation for the Committee.  The Chairman thanked Kevin Cullen and Robert Hall for their update and attendance.

 

The Chairman invited Lyndon Bolton and Tim Carr from Schroder from Schroders to give their presentation.     The Chairman thanked Lyndon Bolton and Tim Carr from Schroder for their update and attendance.

 

 

After considering the contents of the report, the representations made the Committee unanimously RESOLVED:

 

-          The Pension Fund Committee requested that Funding Options be consider and presented to a future meeting of the Committee

-          That Pension Fund Committee requested consideration of changes in the strategic investment allocation be deferred until a future meeting.

-          That Pension Fund Committee noted future funding requirements should be derived from proportional realisations from both DGF funds.

-          That the Pension Fund Committee noted that consideration of private equity and active emerging market equities is carried over to a future meeting.

 

9.

Pooling Update pdf icon PDF 273 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman invited Kevin Cullen and Robert Hall form the London CIV to present item. 

 

The Committee noted that the London Borough of Barnet was a shareholder in the London CIV.  The report and presentation provided an update on the development of the CIV.  The Chairman thanked Kevin Cullen and Robert Hall for their update and attendance.

 

After considering the contents of the report, the Committee unanimously RESOLVED:

 

-          The Pension Fund Committee approved the payment of £25,000 development funding charge from the London CIV.

-          The Pension Fund Committee noted that a pooling plan for each investment will be presented for consideration at a future Committee meeting.

-          The Pension Fund Committee delegated to the Head of Treasury and Pensions the approval of the response to the London CIV’s consultation questions (appendix 2)

 

10.

Review of Strategic Asset Allocations pdf icon PDF 261 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The report was presented by Andrew Elliot the independent investment advisor from Hymans.

 

After considering the contents of the report, the Committee unanimously RESOLVED

 

-          That the Pension Fund Committee gave consideration of changes in the strategic investment allocation and agreed it be deferred until a future meeting.

-          That the Pension Fund Committee agreed that future funding requirements should be derived from proportional realisations from both DGF funds.

-          That the Pension Fund Committee gave consideration of private equity and active emerging market equities and agreed that it be carried over to a future meeting.

 

11.

Governance Policy and Compliance Statement pdf icon PDF 253 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered the recommendations and noted that the proposals.

 

After considering the contents of the report, the Committee unanimously

 

RESOLVED:

The Pension Fund Committee noted the recommendation from the Local Pension Board to include wider employer and scheme member representation and asked officers to review representation at other London Boroughs pension committees and report back to a future meeting.

 

 

12.

Any item(s) that the Chairman decides is urgent

Minutes:

None.