Agenda and minutes

To welcome members and note any changes to the membership 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 had been received from Cllr Tim Swinyard.

To consider the Part 1 (public) minutes of the meeting held on 7 June 2018.

Resolved:

To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting.

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.

The Chairman advised he was soon to meet with officers from Brunel Pension Partnership.

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 Thursday 6 September 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 22 November 2018.

The next meeting of the Sub Committee was to be held on 22 November.

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 – 14 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:

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 Minute Numbers 44-48  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 1 & 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 on investment performance are circulated for consideration.

The Sub-Committee was updated on the performance of the Fund’s investments over the last quarter.

Resolved:

To note the update provided by Mercer and officers on the performance of the Fund’s investments.

To request the Hymans’ report on LDI be circulated to Mercer for commentary.

A verbal update on the progress of Brunel Pension Partnership to be provided by the interim Investment Manager.

A verbal update was provided on the progress of Brunel Pension Partnership:

Resolved:

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

To request officers undertake work to establish the cost to each investment manager of managing their portfolio and the potential reductions in investment manager fees in advance of pooling.

To request a breakdown of costs and savings from Brunel Pension Partnership.

The Sub Committee is invited to consider options for infrastructure investment within the target allocation of 5% of assets to infrastructure.  

The Sub Committee considered options for achieving a 5% infrastructure investment.

Resolved:

To request officers explore fee charges with Partners Group to inform further consideration of infrastructure investment at a future meeting.

To request officers and Mercer begin work to develop a criteria to inform the assessment of investment viability in Wiltshire infrastructure.

To request the Chairman raise concerns about the Brunel model of infrastructure investment with the company.

The Sub Committee is invited to hear a confidential update from CBRE on the performance of the investment portfolio and consider next steps for the mandate.

Representatives from CBRE updated on the performance of the Fund’s mandate. The Sub Committee considered the update and also the upcoming investment strategy decisions the Fund would be required to make.

Resolved:

To note the update from CBRE and continue to monitor performance.

To request officers consider the options for a potential change of weighting within the CBRE mandate, towards global investment.

To recommend that extra resources are allocated within the Fund’s budget to support recruitment of, and training for, staff.

To confirm the Part 2 (confidential) minutes of the meeting held on 7 June 2018.

Resolved:

To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting, subject to an amendment to correct a duplication under item 18.