The Powys Pension Board meeting on May 22, 2024, covered several key topics including the approval of previous meeting minutes, updates on investment performance, and discussions on governance and training. The meeting also touched on the procurement processes and future board meetings.

Investment Performance Update

An internal meeting on investment performance was held on April 17, 2024. This meeting combined a regular agenda item for the Pension and Investments Committee with a training event. The focus was on understanding actuarial discount rates and benchmark returns. Chris and other members agreed that the session was well-received and improved the committee's understanding of investment performance.

David Brim raised a question about the members' understanding of discount rates. The chair responded that the understanding had improved significantly due to the simplified explanations provided during the training. There was also a suggestion to share the recorded session with the board for further learning.

Governance and Training

The board discussed the importance of accumulating training documentation electronically. Chris mentioned that while there is an ongoing effort to set up an online repository for training materials, it is a work in progress due to the time required to collate and organize the documents.

The chair also highlighted the need for a plan of action regarding the new general code and the good governance project. These issues are interrelated and require local decisions for Powys. An update on these topics is expected by July.

Minutes Approval

The minutes from the February 9, 2024, meeting were reviewed and approved with a minor correction regarding the chair's title. The minutes from the Pension Investment Committee meeting on March 22, 2024, were also discussed. The chair noted the presence of Craig Flynn, Deputy Head of Finance and Strategic Finance, and clarified that this did not change the reporting line.

Risk Register and Pensions Administration

The board's efforts in monitoring and suggesting changes to the risk register were acknowledged and supported by the committee. There were also assurances about strengthening the pensions administration team to meet additional demands.

Procurement Processes

The board noted the ongoing procurement processes, including the approval of a preferred bidder for actuarial services and the WPP operator. These processes were discussed in the context of both local and WPP-wide procurement activities.

Future Meetings and New Chair Process

The next board meeting is scheduled for July 9, 2024. The process for appointing a new chair has started but is not yet complete. Further details will be discussed in the confidential part of the meeting.

The meeting then moved into a confidential session to discuss matters that may relate to the financial or business affairs of particular persons or organizations.