Issue - meetings

Pooling Investments in Wales

Meeting: 21/03/2018 - Clwyd Pension Fund Committee (Item 110)

110 Pooling Investments in Wales pdf icon PDF 87 KB

To provide Committee Members with an update on the Wales Pension Partnership.

Additional documents:

Decision:

1.  That the Committee note the report and discuss progress being made by the Wales Pension Partnership

 

Minutes:

Mr Latham guided the Committee to page 65 where this section of the agenda is a report which is for information purposes.

 

The key points Mr Latham made were that;

 

  • There was positive progress in the setting up the sub-funds with the current focus being on the Global Equity Funds.  There had been a lot work by officers to ensure this met the objectives of the Fund. The sub funds should be agreed at the next JGC.
  • The WPP budget was discussed and it was noted it covered all the Host Authority costs.
  • The information and agenda for the next JGC is on the Carmarthenshire website.
  • The Minister had written to the Chair/Vice Chair of the WPP welcoming the appointment of an operator but noting the work to be done. This illustrates the ongoing level of scrutiny.

 

Mrs McWilliam noted that the WPP budget covers areas such as staffing, legal services and operator services fees for Link and Russell.

 

Mrs Fielder confirmed that she had increased the fees relating to pooling compared to those incorporated within the budget as she believed more work will be needed to implement the sub funds than first thought.  However it is difficult to predict the level of costs currently.

 

Mr Hibbert noted that there are concerns in the pools generally regarding two tier workforce due to different pay/conditions and TUPE issues and asked whether there were any problems in Carmarthenshire. 

 

Mrs McWilliam replied that the concerns tend to be in relation to staff being transferred from local authorities to the pool but this is not the case for WPP as it is an external operator.

 

Mr Everett asked whether they were all Carmarthenshire employees. Mrs McWilliam confirmed that the employees operating the pool were Link and Russell employees but the staff and hires relating to the Host Authority work will be Carmarthenshire employees.

 

Mr Everett wanted confirmation of how running costs are proportioned. It was confirmed that they are split equally, i.e. 1/8th to each Fund. 

 

Mrs Fielder added that any costs relating to Link and Russell are in relation to the size of assets that are pooled.  These had been estimated and included in the separate budget figures in the business plan although it was noted for 2018/19 it will only be part year costs as the assets have yet to be transitioned.

 

Mr Latham asked whether any of the Committee members will attend the JGC. Mr Hibbert confirmed he will try to attend.

 

Mr Latham said that there are ongoing discussions regarding the fact that the Committee and Board would not be entitled to sit in the JGC for parts of the meeting due to confidentiality reasons at this stage e.g. due to ongoing discussion over manager fees. It was commented that this is not an ideal situation and the hope is that over time Committee members could attend the meeting as they would be bound by the same level of confidentiality as the JGC members.

 

RESOLVED:

 

1.  That the Committee  ...  view the full minutes text for item 110