Venue: Room 7, York House, Richmond Road, Twickenham
Contact: Louise Hall, 020 8891 7813, Email: louise.hall@richmond.gov.uk
Items
| No. |
Item |
44. |
APOLOGIES
Minutes:
No apologies were received.
|
45. |
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Members are asked to declare any interests and
their nature in matters appearing on the agenda.
Minutes:
Apologies were received from Mr L Johnson,
Staff Observer.
|
46. |
MINUTES  PDF 66 KB
Members are asked to approve the minutes of
the meeting held on 1 March 2010
Minutes:
The
minutes of the Pension Fund Committee held on 1 March 2010 were
received and approved and the Chairman was authorised to sign them
as a correct record.
|
47. |
FUND MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES & FUND VALUATION PDF 73 KB
To report performance, investment activity and
the latest portfolio valuation.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Committee considered a report, the purpose
of which was to provide information on the performance and
investment activity of the fund managers and to give members the
latest portfolio valuation.
Figures received related to the quarter ended
31 March 2010 and showed that both Henderson and L&G had
outperformed the benchmark return of 7% growth. The Committee heard that markets had been
extremely volatile and that in the short term, returns had reflected that. Over the longer term, the fund had seen positive
performance relative to its peer group, with Richmond featuring in
the 30th, 12th and 6th percentile
of local authority performance over 10 year, 5 year and 3 year
periods respectively.
It was RESOLVED that the
report be NOTED.
|
48. |
FUND MANAGERS' QUARTERLY REPORTS & FUND ASSET ALLOCATION PDF 58 KB
The note the fund managers’ quarterly
reports, approve the proposed investment policies and agree the
fund’s overall approach to asset allocation.
Minutes:
|
The Committee
received a report, the purpose of which was to detail the fund
managers’ reports, approve the proposed investment policies
contained within them and to agree on the overall approach to asset
allocation.
In line with the
agreed approach to asset allocation at the last meeting more
property had been added to the fund to address the underweight
position that currently existed. It was
proposed that the phased and opportunistic buying of good value
property continue over the next 3-6 months in order to further
redress the balance.
|
|
It was RESOLVED:
1.
That the quarterly reports of Henderson and L&G be NOTED.
2.
That the investment policies of Henderson and L&G be APPROVED and authority for further property purchases be
DELEGATED to the Director of Finance and Corporate
services in consultation with the fund’s investment advisors,
Hymans Robertson.
3.
That the fund’s current asset allocation be AGREED (subject to 2, above).
4.
That the Committee continue to review and consider the fund’s
allocation to property, at no greater than 3 monthly intervals,
until the central benchmark weighting of 10% is restored.
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|
49. |
APPROVAL OF 2009/10 PENSION FUND ACCOUNTS PDF 62 KB
To present the Pension Fund Accounts for the
2009/10 financial year.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
|
The Committee
received a report of the Director of Finance and Corporate
Services, the purpose of which was to detail the accounts of the
Pension Fund for Members to consider and to seek approval for them
to be incorporated into the full Pension Fund Annual Report for
2009/2010.
The Committee
heard that the Accounts should they be agreed would form part of
the Pensions Fund Annual Report and that they would also form part
of the main Statement of Accounts document that was approved
annually by Council.
The major
movements were related to the market value of the fund’s
assets which showed an overall increase in 2009/10 of
41%. However, it was again noted that
the markets were volatile and that the figure at end of May was
already 4% lower than that reported at the end of March.
During the
discussion that followed the Committee raised concern regarding the
membership of external bodies to the scheme and the risks that this
might pose to the Council’s fund.
Officers stated that although the fund had obligations arising from
the admission of external employers, there was no necessary reason
for this to represent a risk to the fund or a cost to the Council
(and this had not hitherto been the case).
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|
It was RESOLVED:
- That the accounts
of the Pension Fund for the 2009/10 financial year be
approved.
- That the
membership arrangements for external bodies be examined by the
Committee at a future meeting.
|
|
50. |
PENSION FUND ANNUAL REPORT 2009/10 - REVIEW OF STATUTORY CONTENT PDF 62 KB
To review the statutory content of the 2009/10
Pension Fund Annual report.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Committee received a report of the
Director of Finance and Corporate Resources, the purpose of which
was to detail the changes to the statutory content of four
disclosure documents namely:
- Funding Strategy Statement
- Governance Compliance Statement
- Policy on communication with
Members
- Statement of Investment
Principles
It was explained to members that the changes
were requirements set out in LGPS Regulations. These documents would go on to form part of the
Pension Fund Annual Report (a statutory obligation of all LGPS
administering authorities since 2008/09 financial year).
It was RESOLVED that the
revisions to the statutory content of the documents detailed in
paragraph 3.1 of the report be AGREED.
|
51. |
LGPS INVESTMENT REGULATIONS & SEPARATE TREASURY MANAGEMENT ARRANGEMENTS PDF 55 KB
To agree a revised approach to the management
of Pension Fund cash in the light of further CLG guidance on the
interpretation of the new LGPS Investment Regulations.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Committee
received a report of the Director of Finance and Corporate Services
the purpose of which was to seek agreement to a revised approach to
the management of Pension Fund cash agreed at the previous meeting,
in the light of further CLG guidance on the interpretation of the
new LGPS Investment Regulations. The
change reinstated the pooled approach to the management of Pension
Fund Cash with the authority’s cash but required a formal
agreement covering the arrangement to be put in place. This agreement had operated on an interim basis
with the assent of the Chair since 1 April 2010.
The Committee heard that the typical cash
holding would be reduced in the future but at the moment it would
remain slightly higher in order to facilitate the purchase of
property when available.
It was RESOLVED that the
approach to the management of Pension Fund cash be AGREED and the Chairman be
authorised to sign the agreement attached as Appendix A of the
report.
|
52. |
MEMBER TRAINING PDF 57 KB
To advise members of the requirements and
opportunities for training.
Reports of the Director of Finance and
Corporate Services attached.
Minutes:
|
The Committee received a report of the
Director of Finance and Corporate Services, the purpose of which
was to advise members of the requirement on them to undertake
training and the means by which this could potentially be
obtained.
The Committee acknowledged the possible
training needs of members and particularly noted that training on
tri-annual valuations would be useful.
The Committee also identified an opportunity to have brief training
sessions before each meeting of the Committee with the subject to
be decided by the Director of Finance and Corporate Services.
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|
It was RESOLVED:
1.
That the contents of the report be NOTED.
2.
That attendance by members at any training necessary to the
responsibilities of the Committee be
AGREED.
3.
That an audit of Committee Members existing skills and training
needs be CONDUCTED.
4.
That following on from 3. a proposal for
training provision be PROVIDED by Officers.
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53. |
URGENT ITEM - ANNUAL AUDIT PLAN PDF 50 KB
The Chair will seek permission from the
Committee to consider this item as a matter of urgency. The urgent nature of the report arises from the
late submission of the report from the External Auditors and the
importance of hearing it at this meeting.
The report seeks approval of the Annual Audit
Plan and the proposed Audit work.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
|
With the agreement of the Committee an urgent
report of the Director of Finance and Corporate Services was
heard. The purpose of the report was to
allow the committee to consider and approve the Annual Audit Plan
for 2009/2010.
The external auditor explained to the
Committee that the report helped the Council to understand risk and
develop its response to those risks.
Areas of risk highlighted to the Committee
were:
- Possible payment of pension
allowances to the deceased
- Outsourcing to managers
- Valuation of unit-linked insurance
policies held as investments
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|
The Director of Finance and Corporate
Resources informed the Committee that the Council was unhappy that
external Audit fees were so high. It
was recognised that this was not directly the responsibility of the
appointed auditor, PKF, but the result of the scale fees set by the
Audit Commission. It was agreed that
the Chair would send a letter on behalf of the Council to the Audit
Commission, addressing this matter.
|
|
It was RESOLVED:
- The Annual Audit Plan 2009/10
be APPROVED.
- That proposed audit work
be NOTED.
- That the Director of Finance be
AUTHORISED to write a letter regarding external
audit fees on behalf of the Council.
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