Issue - meetings

(a)  That the Committee considered the update and provided comments.

(b)  That the Committee discussed what actions could be taken as a result of the information received at the recent Wales Responsible Investment event, and confirmed the Fund's approach to RI/ESG should be included on the next agenda for discussion and debate.

(c)  That the Committee considered the current Training Policy and Procedure for Recording and Reporting Breaches of the Law and confirmed if they would not require any changes to be made to either of these.

            Mr Everett left the Committee room on this item of the agenda.

Mr Latham noted that the Fund were unsuccessful in trying to appoint three new members in the Finance Team. After considering the Investment Officer post and testing the market, Mr Latham said that this post will be re-advertised as a Graduate Investment Officer because the salary was not considered adequate to attract an appropriately qualified person. The Accountant post had a similar issue but it will now be re-advertised at a higher grade. The Governance and Support Officer will be re-advertised at the same grade as before.

                      For the Graduate Investment Officer post, Mr Hibbert raised his concerns about hiring and training a graduate who could then leave the administering authority after two or three years for a position with another employer with better pay.  Mr Latham agreed there was a risk and highlighted that, if the Graduate post is successful, there may be other senior posts that might become available in the Fund in the future. The Chairman added that this issue is also happening with other authorities. Mr Latham thought that the Clwyd Fund may be different in its needs given the structure but there are similar challenges in other funds. 

                      Mr Hibbert asked whether there were any opportunities to job share with another fund but Mr Latham confirmed that this was not a possibility as there are a number of unique elements required for this position.  The Chairman highlighted the risk relating to the knowledge and expertise of the existing officers.

Mr Latham then went on to note that Marsh and McLennan are in the process of purchasing JLT and that Marsh and McLennan also own Mercer.  This means that if completed the existing contract with JLT would initially be novated to acknowledge the change of company.

                      Mr Latham moved on to the next section which is around the Pension Board where there was a meeting held in October and the main points are outlined in the report including that the Board had considered the Fund's approach to managing the risk of cybercrime. Mr Latham and Mr Pumford attended the Cheshire Pension Fund Local Board meeting and the Boards are working together to see if they can learn anything from each other. The Chairman asked whether it was encouraging. Mr Pumford confirmed that it was a very good exercise and extremely useful.

                      In relation to the LGPS Scheme Advisory Board (the “SAB”), Mr Latham highlighted the update.  He particularly highlighted the separation project which is being undertaken and the issue of potential conflict of interests arising between the management of LGPS Pension Fund and the existing functions and objectives of the Parent Local Authority. 

                      Mr Hibbert advised the Committee that he had attended a Unison Pensions event where Clwyd Pension Fund were positively highlighted for their responsible investment policy.

                      Mr Latham went on to highlight that on page 40, there is a link for the annual reports from the Local Pension Board and the Independent  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33