Agenda and minutes

To note any changes of membership.

The Chairman welcomed all those present to the meeting.

Cllr Steve Allsopp was welcomed as the newest Member of the Wiltshire Pension Fund Committee.

An update was given on the employer body representative positions noting that one position was available for educational scheduled bodies and one for admitted bodies. Two applications had been received from the educational institutes and interviews would be held on the 4 September, no application had been received from admitted bodies at present.   

There were no non-members of the Committee present.

Apologies had been received from:

·       Cllr Roy While

·       Tony Gravier

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 5 June 2014 (copy attached).

The Minutes of the meeting held on 5 June 2014 were presented for consideration. It was;

Resolved:

To approve the Minutes of the previous meeting as a true and correct record.

The Chairman made the following announcements:

Baillie Gifford

The Chairman thanked Baillie Gifford for their presentation and refreshments which marked 20 years of working together.

Self Assessments

The Chairman asked the Members of the Committee to complete the self assessment forms which had been sent to them prior to the meeting, noting that these would form the basis for training sessions for the Members. Options for refresher and induction training were discussed and would be looked into to identify if it is required. 

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

There were no declarations of interest.

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, no later than 5pm on 10 July 2014. 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 questions or statements submitted.

The draft annual report for 2012-13 is presented to members for approval. 

The draft annual report was discussed by Members. It was noted by the Head of Pensions that Wiltshire Council had recently been audited and he was currently unaware of any issues but this would be reported on at the September meeting. It was;

Resolved

To approve the draft Wiltshire Pension Fund Annual Report & Financial Statement 2013- 14 for publication. 

A report from the Strategic Pension Manager requesting Committee to approve the annually updated SIP for 2014.

The SIP was presented to Members and noted that there had not been any changes or amendments. It was;

Resolved

To approve the 2014 Statement of Investment Principles.

A written report by the Head of Pensions is circulated updating the Committee on the latest consultation on governance. 

A consultation update was given noting that the deadline for comments would be the 15 August 2014. The Members were also informed that a Pension Board, to assist the Wiltshire Pension Fund Committee with compliance, would need to be in place by 1 April 2015. It was noted that the guidelines for setting the board up were at present brief and that there were a number of key issues to address before the board could be set up. It was;

Resolved

a)    To delegate the approval of the formal response from the Wiltshire Pension Fund to the consultation to the Head of Pensions, after consultation with the Chairman and Vice Chairman taking into consideration the points raised at the meeting; and

b)    To note that officers will consider the issues for implementation of a local pension board and update this Committee in September.

To note that the next regular meeting of the Committee will be held on Thursday 11 September 2014.

The next meeting of the Wiltshire Pension Fund on the 11 September 2014 was noted.

There were no urgent items.

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 62 to 64 because it is likely that if members of the public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of the Schedule 12A to the Act and the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information to the public. Paragraph 3 – information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

A confidential Annual Report from Western Asset Management is attached and Members are asked to consider this along with the verbal report at the meeting.

Marian George and Paul Shuttleworth gave a verbal update on the annual report for the Pension Fund, and took questions from the Committee on the progress and future plans for that mandate. Following which it was,

 Resolved

To thank the representatives from Western Asset Management for their attendance and noted the update.

A confidential Annual Report from Barings Asset Management is attached and Members are asked to consider this along with the verbal report at the meeting.

Brian Corris and Andrew Cole gave a verbal update on the annual report for the Pension Fund, and took questions from the Committee on the progress and future plans for that mandate. Following which it was,

 Resolved

To thank the representatives from Barings for their attendance and noted the update.

A confidential report from Head of Pensions and Mercers is circulated updating the Committee on the current asset allocation position and reviewing the Fund’s strategic asset allocation to bonds.

The Head of Pensions and Mercers gave an update on the current asset allocation position and reviewed the Fund’s strategic asset allocation to bonds. Discussions focused on the options available to the Committee and it was;

Resolved

To allow officers to look at options for expanding the bond allocation to include Multi Asset Credit and Absolute Return Investments with and update provided in September.