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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber - County Hall, Bythesea Road, Trowbridge, BA14 8JN. View directions

Contact: Kieran Elliott  01225 718504

Items
No. Item

58.

Apologies

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

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Councillor Steve Heyes.

59.

Minutes

To approve and sign as a true and correct record the Part I (public) minutes of the previous meeting held on 30 September 2021.

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 30 September 2021 were presented for consideration, and it was,

 

Resolved:

 

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

60.

Declarations of Interest

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

 

Minutes:

There were no declarations.

61.

Chairman's Announcements

To receive any announcements through the Chairman.

Minutes:

Through the Chair Andy Brown, Deputy Chief Executive, Corporate Director for Resources and S151 Officer of Wiltshire Council and Treasurer to the Pension Fund, provided an update on senior management structure changes at the council. It was confirmed that Jennifer Devine had been appointed to the new role of Head of the Pension Fund.

 

Members were also reminded of online training taking place on Monday 29 November 2021.

 

The Chairman also noted he was consulting with Committee Members on adjusting the frequency of performance reporting to a 6-month basis to avoid overreaction to quarterly changes, with a system of alerts from officers if a change within a quarter was significant in respect of the annual or triennial performance of the Fund.

 

It was also proposed the Committee Members provide a view on whether to move all training and investment manager sessions to be online.

62.

Public Participation

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public,
however, to ensure Covid-19 public health guidance is adhered to,
physical attendance at this meeting will be limited. Please contact
the officer named on this agenda no later than 5pm on 23 November 2021 if you wish to attend this meeting

 

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 on the front of the agenda 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 on the front of this agenda no later than 5pm on 18 November 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 22 November 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 Committee members prior to the meeting and made available at the meeting and on the Council’s website.

Minutes:

There were no questions or statements submitted.

63.

Responsible Investment Update and Progress Report

To receive a report from the Head of Pension Fund Investments.

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Head of the Pension Fund presented a report on Responsible Investment including progress against the Plan actions for 2021/22. Details were provided of recent actions including engagement with members regarding COP26 and any implications for responsible investment.

 

It was then,

 

Resolved:

 

To note the responsible investment update and progress report.

64.

Investment Strategy Statement Review

To receive a report from the Head of Pension Fund Investments.

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Head of the Pension Fund provided an update on changes being proposed to the Investment Strategy Statement. It was stated these were minor changes as detailed in the report, mostly to reflect the approval of the Responsible Investment policy and other references which would need to be updated.

 

The Committee briefly discussed the update, noting that references to the Investment Sub-Committee, which it had been agreed would be stood down, would also need amending within the strategy. The Local Pension Board had recommended the updated ISS be approved.

 

It was then,

 

Resolved:

 

Toapprove the updated Investment Strategy Statement.

65.

Date of Next Meeting

The next ordinary meeting of the Committee will be held on

Minutes:

The date of the next meeting was confirmed as 16 December 2021.

66.

Urgent Items

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.

 

 

Minutes:

There were no urgent items.

67.

Exclusion of the Public

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 14 – 17  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.

 

Minutes:

It was,

 

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 68 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.

68.

Investment Quarterly Progress Report

To receive a report from the Head of Pension Fund Investments.

Minutes:

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

 

At the conclusion of discussion, it was,

 

Resolved:

 

To authorise officers to work with Mercer to deliver the implementation of the affordable housing and renewable infrastructure portfolios, at a cost of £35k for affordable housing, and £50k for renewable infrastructure.

 

Note: For Minute Items 69-70 the meeting moved to the Kennet Room, County Hall. The discussion on Minute 68 took place before and after Minutes 69-70.

 

69.

Partners Group Infrastructure Presentation

Minutes:

A presentation was received from Sarah Brewer and Sean Dryden from Partners Group in respect of Infrastructure investments.

 

70.

Ninety One Emerging Market Multi-Asset Presentation

Minutes:

A presentation was received from Shaza Hasan and Grant Webster from Ninety-One in respect of Emerging Markets Multi-Asset Investments.