Pensions Committee - Wednesday 16th October 2024 6.30 p.m.

October 16, 2024 View on council website  Watch video of meeting or read trancript
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Summary

The committee heard a presentation from Dr Barry McKay from Fathom Financial Consulting1 on the current state of the Global Economy. The committee also received a report on the administration of the Newham Pension Fund and approved the 2024-25 budget of £0.973m for the Local Pension Partnership Administration (LPPA)2. The committee decided to approve the investment of c. £150m in the new LCIV Global Active Equity Value Fund3, financed by a c. £30m reduction in the LCIV Global Focus Fund and a c. £120m reduction in the LGIM Paris Aligned Global passive equity fund.

The Global Economy

Dr Barry McKay of Fathom Financial Consulting provided a presentation to the committee on the Global Economy, in which he predicted that interest rates will stay higher for longer. This is because although energy prices have fallen in the last year, inflation in services remains high, particularly in the UK.

Goods price inflation has normalised, but services price inflation remains elevated, particularly in the UK.

Fathom's view is that the UK Labour Party's plan to borrow to invest rather than cut taxes will improve public finances in the long run. They predict that this will also lead to increased long-term interest rates, and that a new government could help sterling erase its post-Brexit discount. The committee were advised to wait until after the autumn budget announcement to make any changes to the Newham Pension Fund, but were told that there is a good argument for investing more into UK stocks and assets.

Administration of the Newham Pension Fund

The committee heard that as of June 2024 the Newham Pension Fund had a funding deficit of £68m. This was better than the deficit in March of £96m, but significantly worse than the £4m surplus reported in the March 2022 valuation. This was mostly due to the high rate of CPI inflation in the last two years, which was 10.1% in April 2023 and 6.7% in April 2024.

The main reason for this reduction is that actual CPI pension increases awarded have been significantly higher than assumed since the valuation at 10.1% in April 2023 and 6.7% in April 2024.

The committee were told that the Pension Administration Service's budget for 2024-25 would be £0.973m, an increase of 14.5% on the previous year. This increase was due to an increase in the number of scheme members as well as an increase in the price per member charged by the Local Pension Partnership Administration (LPPA).

The committee were told that the novation of the Pension Administration Service from the Local Pension Fund Authority to Lancashire County Council had been successful. The new service provided by Local Pension Partnership Administration had included the introduction of a member self-service portal, Pension Point.

The committee also heard that 5,446 members of the Newham Pension Fund had been identified as potentially eligible for a McCloud underpin calculation4. The LPPA's administration software had been updated to allow this calculation to be made when processing retirement applications. The LGA has also issued guidance to local authorities on how to explain the McCloud underpin calculation to members.

Investment Strategy

The committee discussed the appointment of a new Global Active Equity Value Manager by the LCIV. The Scheme Investment Adviser (SIA) provided a presentation to the committee on the strategy and performance of the new manager, Wellington Management Company. The committee were told that the manager’s strategy is based on identifying undervalued companies and using a contrarian approach.

The committee decided to invest c. £150m in the new fund, financed by a c. £30m reduction in the LCIV Global Focus Fund and a c. £120m reduction in the LGIM Paris Aligned Global passive equity fund. The Scheme Investment Advisor recommended this approach because they believe that the Wellington Management Company fund will complement the Newham Pension Fund’s existing active and passive equity holdings. The SIA also reported that Wellington Management Company’s approach to ESG is consistent with the Newham Pension Fund’s own policy.

The committee were told that the LCIV had a new Chief Proposition Officer, Andrien Meyers, and that their Chief Investment Officer, Aoifinn Devitt, was due to leave the organisation in the last quarter of 2024. The SIA also reported that CBRE had been appointed as the fund manager for the LCIV’s property fund.


  1. Fathom Financial Consulting are an economics consultancy. 

  2. The LPPA provides pension administration services to the Newham Pension Fund. 

  3. The LCIV is the London Collective Investment Vehicle, a pooled investment fund for Local Government Pension Schemes. 

  4. The McCloud Judgement was a legal decision about age discrimination in public sector pensions. It required all public sector pension schemes to recalculate benefits for members who were in service on 31 March 2012 to remove the discrimination.