Agenda and minutes

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

Apologies were received from Cllr Steve Heyes.

Cllr Elizabeth Threlfall substituted for the vacany position on the Sub-Committee.

To approve and sign as a true and correct record the Part I (public) minutes of the previous meeting held on 10 June 2021.

The public minutes of the meeting held on 10 June 2021 were presented for consideration, and it was,

Resolved:

To approve and sign the minutes as a true and correct record.

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

There were no declarations.

To receive any announcements through the Chairman.

It was noted that the full Committee would be considering proposals to stand down the Investment Sub-Committee.

Attention was also drawn to Brunel Investor days on 27 September and 6 October 2021.

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public. During the ongoing COVID-19 situation the Council is operating revised procedures and the public are able participate in meetings online after registering with the officer named on this agenda, and in accordance with the deadlines below.

Guidance on how to participate in this meeting online.

Statements

Members of the public who wish to submit a statement in relation to an item on this agenda should submit this is electronically to the officer named on this agenda no later than 5pm on 27 August 2021.

Statements should:

·       State whom the statement is from (including if representing another personor organisation)

·       Clearly state the key points

·       If read aloud, be readable in approximately 3 minutes

Up to three speakers are allowed for each item on the agenda.

Questions

Those wishing to ask questions are required to give notice of any such questions electronically to the officer named on the front of this agenda no later than 5pm on 25 August 2021 in order to be guaranteed of a written response. In order to receive a verbal response questions must be submitted no later than 5pm on 27 August 2021.

Please contact the officer named on the front 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 members prior to the meeting and made available at the meeting and on the Council’s website; they will be taken as read at the meeting.

There were no questions or statements submitted.

Jennifer Devine, Head of Pension Fund Investments, presented an update report on responsible investment. It was noted that Mercers would be redoing their climate change modelling training on 14 September 2021. Details were provided of a reporting gap analysis by consultants to enable the Fund to sign up to the 2020 Stewardship Code, with a plan to follow at future meetings.

At the conclusion of discussion, it was,

Resolved:

The Committee is asked to:
· use the report as a basis for monitoring the progress that is being made towards implementing responsible investment related issues;
· note the progress made against the Responsible Investment Plan 2021/22 actions and discuss whether any additional actions are needed at the current time;
· approve that Pensions for Purpose be invited to deliver a follow-on session on impact investing, at a cost of £1,700 (not included in the budget);
· pending decision elsewhere on this agenda, approve that Brunel are invited to deliver a training session on the new Paris-aligned benchmark

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 9 onwardsbecause 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 Item Numbers 9 onwards 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

To receive an update from Magellan.

A presentation was received from Gerald Stack and Zarina Kalapesi from Magellan in respect of the Listed Infrastructure Fund.

Jennifer Devine, Head of Pension Fund Investments, presented the Investment Quarterly Progress Report.

At the conclusion of discussion, it was,

Resolved:

The Committee is asked to:
i.use the investment reports and the update provided by officers and advisers at the meeting as a basis for monitoring the investment performance and implementation of the strategic asset allocation;
ii.use the report as a basis to ask questions of Magellan;
iii.approve that the Fund transfer the low carbon passive portfolio to the Paris-aligned passive portfolio on its inception in November 2021, in line with the net zero by 2050 ambition set out in the Investment Strategy Statement;
iv.approve that the Fund publicise the decision to be an initial investor in the Paris aligned passive portfolio, and the collaboration work done with other Funds to develop this benchmark;
v.approve the approach taken towards the property transition, and agree the
milestones set before this can proceed

Jennifer Devine, Head of Pension Fund Investments, presented a report in respect of a review of Protections Assets.

It was then,

Resolved:

The Committee is asked to:
i.Approve that the Fund makes a 5% strategic long-term allocation to renewable infrastructure and a 5% strategic long-term allocation to impact affordable housing;
ii.Approve that the strategic long-term allocation to secured income is reduced to 8% and the strategic long-term allocation to gilts is reduced to 7%;
iii.Approve that the strategic interim allocation to bank loans is increased to 10.8%, and the strategic interim allocation to gilts is reduced to 21.7%, and that this is implemented by transferring £100m from the gilts portfolio to the bank loans portfolio;
iv.Approve that officers begin work, in consultation with advisers, to bring a
recommendation back to the Committee on how the new strategic allocations should be implemented

To approve and sign as a true and correct record the Part II (private) minutes of the previous meeting held on

The private minutes of the meeting held on 10 June 2021 were presented for consideration, and it was,

Resolved:

To approve and sign the minutes as a true and correct record.