Issue - meetings

To present for discussion by Committee Members an initial draft of the content of the Clwyd Pension Fund Annual Report 2017/18.

That Members noted and commented on the draft unaudited sections of the Annual Report and delegated finalisation to the Clwyd Pension Fund Manager.

Mrs Fielder outlined the items in the Annual Report which have been completed to date. As usual the annual report will be completed before the Annual General Meeting with employers and Members are asked to delegate finalisation to the Clwyd Pension Fund Manager. The Annual Report includes all the Fund’s statutory and best practise documents which have been brought up to date.

The Fund’s Investment Consultant and Actuary presented their annual reports to the Committee.

As a result, Members raised some questions.

Mr Hibbert queried why the investment management fees have almost trebled but the assets have not moved in the same way. Mrs Fielder said that this is mainly due to increased transparency as the core managers are showing all their fees more transparently. More private market managers are providing information despite the fact that they are not signed up to the LGPS Code of Transparency yet and over time this will develop. She noted that they do discuss fees with managers and minimise them where possible.

Cllr Bateman asked what the difference was between a consultant and an advisor following page 79. Mrs Fielder responded that Mrs McWilliam (Aon Hewitt) is a governance advisor whereas JLT and Mercer are consultants.

Cllr Bateman also asked whether the investment management fees will reduce with pooling. Mr Latham said that there are some small reduction in fees.

Mr Hibbert asked whether a graph could be provided showing the cash flows going into and out of the Fund.  He also said it would be useful if the reporting performance shows the value of the investments as well as the percentage change (i.e. an 8% jump on a part of the portfolio may look good but it might only reflect a small proportion of the Fund). Mr Buckland confirmed that this was a valid point and would be considered for the next Annual Report.

Mr Everett commented that it has been a positive year with substantial team effort.  The funding review is imminent to consider employer contributions from 2020 and there will be a number of challenges in the administration strategy. Nevertheless it has been a successful year in a challenging period that has seen much of reform.

All members of the Committee agreed the recommendations. External Audit left the meeting at this point.

The Chairman thanked Mrs Fielder for all the hard work on the Annual Report.

RESOLVED:

That Members noted and commented on the draft unaudited sections of the Annual Report and delegated finalisation to the Clwyd Pension Fund Manager.