Agenda item

Governance Update

To provide Committee Members with an update on governance related matters.

Decision:

(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.

 

Minutes:

            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 Adviser and invited the Committee to feel free to ask questions about this.

Mr Latham also referred to agenda item 1.06, highlighting that the Annual Joint Consultative Meeting (the “AJCM”) had received very positive feedback however he stated that he would like to see more attendees next year.

Mr Latham noted that some of the Committee member had recently attended a conference in Cardiff covering responsible investment. The feedback that Mr Latham received was that the Committee found it extremely interesting and wanted more information about what the Fund do. The Fund historically provided a separate report on responsible investment when there was a panel. Mr Latham added that they are looking to confirm whether the Committee want this included on the agenda for the meeting in February or March 2019. The Committee agreed that they would like this added because it is currently a hot topic.   Mr Latham also confirmed this would include an update on where the WPP is with its policy if possible.

Mr Latham spoke about the review of policies on the bottom of page 41 and 42, such as the review of the Training Policy and the Breaches of Law Policy. On agenda item 1.10, Committee members were asked to consider whether they fully understand their responsibilities under these two policies. The Chairman emphasised that Committee members should raise any future needs with Mrs Fielder.  Mr Hibbert raised that he would like more training on administration aspects and it was agreed this would happen at the February or March meetings and Mrs McWilliam would contact Mr Hibbert to fully understand what he would like.

For the Compliance with the TPR Code of Practice on page 42, Mr Latham noted that Mrs Fielder and Mrs Williams have gone through this in detail and will be producing d action plan for improving compliance.

Mrs Fielder noted that on 19th December between 12pm and 6pm, there is catch-up training for Committee members which has been organised in the Pensions room. Mrs Fielder also thanked everyone for their commitment to attending training and conference events over the past year.

Mr Latham noted from agenda item 1.16 that the Committee took part in the Hymans Robertson survey on national confidence in the LGPS. The results were attached in Appendix 13 and 14. Mr Latham highlighted that the Committee and Board had already completed their own self-assessment of training needs.

Lastly, Mr Latham presented a report to the Audit Committee on 21st November in relation to Fund Governance. Following this meeting, Mr Everett intends on speaking to the Chair of the Audit Committee to help them  better understand how they perform their administering authority role in relation to the Pension Fund.

 

RESOLVED:

 

(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.

 

Supporting documents: