Issue - meetings

(a)  The Committee approved the Clwyd Pension Fund Annual Report and Accounts 2019/20.

(b)  The Committee considered the Audit Report.

(c)  The Committee approved the Letter of Representation.

(d)  The Committee noted the Audit Enquiries letter and responses.

Mr Vaughan noted the following key points on this item of the agenda:

·         The investment performance of the Fund is recovering as the Fund moves through 2020/21.

·         The Fund has continued to work with WPP and will be further transitioning assets in 2021.

·         The administration strategy had been updated to enable employers and members to receive information in an enhanced way.

·         Following the impact of COVID-19, the Fund had continued to successfully deliver business as usual.

Mr Vaughan stated that the accounts had been signed by Mr Ferguson, as the Section 151 officer. Included in the report is an Emphasis of Matter, which relates specifically to uncertainties in the valuation of Pooled Property investments because of the impact of COVID-19. Another document required this year is the Letter of Representation, which requires the Committee to confirm to Audit Wales that all of the information contained in the financial statements is true, accurate and that it has been disclosed, as well as a letter of response which answers some questions in relation to audit queries.

Mr Monkhouse confirmed that since the circulation of the report, the fieldwork for the audit of the accounts had been completed. He thanked Mrs Fielder, Mr Vaughan and the team for producing accounts and their ongoing assistance for the audit during this challenging time.

Audit Wales work on a basis of materiality limits, which is set to try identify and correct misstatements that might otherwise cause a user of the accounts into being misled. The materiality limit that was applied for this year’s audit is c£17.8m. The audit was expected to be signed off by 13 October and electronic signatures are required from the Committee. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Mr Monkhouse and the team have been working remotely and adopted new ways to work together such as weekly meetings, which had been a success.

            In Appendix 3 of the report, there has been an adjustment of c£19.4m because the net assets were overstated by this amount.

Mr Everett noted the Annual Report was very comprehensive and assuring, and he thanked the team and advisers for the excellent work in developing the report in tough times.

Mr Ferguson thanked everyone for their participation and help and recommended the Annual Report and Accounts for approval.

RESOLVED:

(a)  The Committee approved the Clwyd Pension Fund Annual Report and Accounts 2019/20.

(b)  The Committee considered the Audit Report.

(c)  The Committee approved the Letter of Representation.

(d)  The Committee noted the Audit Enquiries letter and responses.