The Pensions Investment Committee noted the contents of the quarterly investment report, adopted the fund's new Administration Strategy, and agreed to a number of recommendations made in private.

Administration Strategy

The meeting saw the approval of a new Administration Strategy for the fund. The new strategy sets out the roles and responsibilities of the Council and the employers who participate in the pension scheme when administering the scheme. It describes the service standards that the Council expects from employers, and sets out a schedule of fines that the Council will levy on employers that do not meet these standards. For example, employers will be charged £500 for each late contributions return, plus £100 per week until it is provided. The new strategy also sets out, for the first time, the Council's expectation that employers will provide data on the scheme to the Council every month, using the iConnect system.

General Update

The Committee were given a general update on a number of more routine matters relating to the fund. The committee noted the draft accounts for 2023/24, and agreed that the Chair of the Committee would approve the final version of the accounts after they had been audited.

Members of the committee were also briefed on the recent meeting of the Pension Board, which is a statutory board made up of local employers and employees that scrutinises the governance of the fund. At the Board meeting, members were updated on the progress of the statutory audit of the fund which is being carried out by KPMG, and were assured that the Council's purchase of the Heywood ISP meant that the fund would be ready to share data with the Pensions Dashboard when it launches. The Pensions Dashboard will be a new online service, launching in 2023, which will allow people to see all of their pension pots in one place.

Private Session

After noting the general update and approving the new Administration Strategy, the meeting moved into private session to discuss commercially sensitive matters. It is not known what decisions were made during the private session, although the meeting agenda suggests that the committee received reports on quarterly investment performance, the Nature Based Solutions Fund, LGPS reform, and held a series of meetings with fund managers.