Agenda and minutes

To welcome Committee members and to note the attendance of any non-members of the Sub-Committee.

The Chairman welcomed those present to the meeting.  

To receive any apologies for absence or substitutions for the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Steve Weisinger, Cllr Philip Whitehead and Michael Hudson.

To consider the Part 1 (public) minutes of the meeting held on 8 November 2017.

Resolved:

To confirm the Part 1 minutes of the meeting held on 8 November 2017.

To receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive any announcements through the Chairman.

There were no Chairmans Announcements.

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public.

Statements

If you would like to make a statement at this meeting on any item on this agenda, please register to do so at least 10 minutes prior to the meeting. Up to 3 speakers are permitted to speak for up to 3 minutes each on any agenda item. Please contact the officer named above for any further clarification.

Questions

To receive any questions from members of the public or members of the Council received in accordance with the constitution. Those wishing to ask questions are required to give notice of any such questions in writing to the officer named above (acting on behalf of the Corporate Director), no later than 5pm on Wednesday 14 February 2018 in order to be guaranteed a written response prior to the meeting. Any question received between the above deadline, and no later than 5pm two clear working days before the meeting, may only receive a verbal response at the meeting.

Please contact the officer named on the first page of this agenda for further advice. Questions may be asked without notice if the Chairman decides that the matter is urgent.

Details of any questions received will be circulated to Committee members prior to the meeting and made available at the meeting and on the Council’s website.

There were no members of the public present.

The next ordinary meeting of the Sub-Committee will be held on 7 June 2018.

It was noted the next meeting was to be held on 7 June 2018.

Any other items of business which, in the opinion of the Chairman, should be considered as a matter of urgency. Urgent items of a confidential nature may be considered under Part II of this agenda.

There were no urgent items.

To consider passing the following resolution:

To agree that in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the public from the meeting for the business specified in Item Numbers 10 – 16 because it is likely that if members of the public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 3 of Part I of Schedule 12A to the Act and the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information to the public.

Resolved:

That in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the public from the meeting for the business specified in Minute Numbers 10-16 because it is likely that if members of the public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 3 of Part I of Schedule 12A to the Act and the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information to the public.

Confidential reports, including one from Mercer, update the Sub Committee on the performance of the Fund’s investments as to the end of December 2017.

Officers and advisers gave an update on the performance of the Fund’s investments for the last quarter.

Resolved:

To note the Investment Quarterly Progress Report and verbal update provided by officers and advisers at the meeting.

To request an item be tabled for the next meeting to discuss the performance of the CBRE mandate.

To request officers and the Chairman of the Wiltshire Pension Fund Committee raise the issue of performance-related manager fees with Brunel Pension Partnership as a matter for consideration when awarding contracts.

A confidential report is attached for members to consider.

Officers presented a report explaining the Fund’s Flight Path trigger had been reached, for members to consider.

Resolved:

To note the activation of the Flight Path trigger.

A confidential Mercer report is attached for members to consider, alongside a verbal report at the meeting.

Officers and advisers presented a range of options to manage risk.

Resolved:

To note the recommendation to use the ‘retain equity risk’ approach as a benchmark for comparing against both a static equity protection strategy and a dynamic approach and the next step to provide further training and background on each of these risk management proposals, and;

To defer further decision on risk management until members have completed this training.

To receive a presentation from Janice Hayward, Client Services Director, and Alan MacDougall, Managing Director.

Topics to be considered:

·       What PIRC does for the Fund now, with a focus on the Stewardship Code and Investment Strategy Statement

·       Looking forward: Administering Authorities, Pooling and ESG Matters

·       The Discharging of Investment Responsibilities under Pooling

·       Responsibilities and Oversight Activities an AA needs to ensure are resourced and managed  (in their role as AA and ‘client’ of an LGPS Pool Company).

Background PIRC papers are attached, for information.

Janice Hayward, Client Services Manager, and Alan MacDougall, Managing Director, from PIRC have a presentation on the company’s work to support responsible investment.

Resolved:

To thank PIRC for the informative presentation and agree to take forward consideration of their recommendations with officers.

To consider the ESG matters raised by PIRC at the next Committee training event. 

To consider a carbon foot printing analysis undertaken by Mercer on behalf of the Fund. The analysis was conducted using MSCI ESG Analytics and focusses on the listed equity portfolios and relevant benchmarks.

The Sub-Committee considered an analysis undertaken by Mercer to assess the carbon footprint of the Fund’s equity portfolios.

Resolved:

To note the findings from Mercer’s carbon footprinting analysis and to continue data collecting and discussion on ESG matters at the next training event.

To agree the Sub Committee, in consultation with Mercer, develop questions for Investment Managers on their carbon footprint and their views on other ESG metrics by which they should be measured.

To request the questions raised by PIRC in respect of ESG issues be raised with Brunel Pension Partnership

A verbal update from the Investment manager on the implementation of investment pooling.

The Fund’s Investments Manager provided an update on progress within Brunel Pension Partnership.

Resolved:

To note the update on the progress of Brunel Pension Partnership.

To confirm the Part 2 (confidential) minutes of the meeting held on 8 November 2017.

Resolved:

To confirm the Part 2 minutes of the meeting held on 8 November 2017.