This meeting of the Pension Fund Panel was scheduled to consider a number of reports on the management and administration of the London Borough of Hounslow Pension Fund. These included a report from the fund's administrators, a review of the fund's risk register, the adoption of strategic objectives for the fund's investment advisors, and an update on progress towards complying with the Pensions Regulator General Code of Practice. The reports provided to attendees do not provide any information about what was actually discussed or decided during the meeting.

Annual Business Plan 2025/26

The Panel was scheduled to review the Pension Fund's Annual Business Plan 2025/26. The report sets out a working schedule of items that are expected to be discussed over the following year. This included a training day for the Pension Fund Panel and Board to be held on 10 June 2025.

Quarterly Overview and General Matters

The Panel was scheduled to receive a report providing an overview of the performance of the fund during the third quarter of the 2024/25 financial year. The report also included updates on administration, regulation and investment.

At the end of December 2024, the net assets of the fund were valued at £1,396.2m. This represents a 2.3% increase on their value at the end of September 2024, and a 9.1% increase since December 2023.

The report pack included details of eight employers that had made late contributions to the fund between April and December 2024. These were:

• PS Catering
• Atlas Cleaning - Heston School
• Nourish Catering
• Atlas Cleaning - Western International Market
• May Harris
• Purgo
• PS Catering

The report also provided an update on the Pension Dashboard Programme, which will require occupational pension schemes like the LGPS to connect to a central dashboard system. The dashboard will allow members to view their pension information online. The connection deadline for public service schemes is 31 October 2025.

The report noted an employers' forum that was held on 27 February 2025. The forum provided employers with information about their roles and responsibilities relating to the fund and their employees, including presentations on administration, the upcoming actuarial valuation and the Mansion House speech made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in November 2024.

The Chancellor's speech outlined plans for pension fund reforms, including a proposal for funds to transfer all assets into an investment pool by March 2026. The report summarised the response that the Panel was scheduled to make to the subsequent government consultation on these plans.

Pension Fund Administration Performance Report and Update on Regulatory Matters

The Panel was scheduled to receive a report from West Yorkshire Pension Fund (WYPF) on the administration of the Hounslow Pension Fund, for which it acts as the scheme administrator. The report included an update on regulatory matters, performance benchmarking and key performance indicators.

The report showed that WYPF had met or exceeded its target of completing 85% of cases within the allotted number of days in each of the three months of the reporting period.

The report identified two areas where performance targets were not met:

• Death Grant Set Up
• Interfund Linking In Actual

The underperformance of these areas was attributed to high volumes of work, with older cases requiring significant manual input.

Pension Fund Risk Register (New Risk Register and RM Strategy)

The Panel was scheduled to review a report on the Pension Fund Risk Register. The report stated that the register had been updated to bring it in line with other LGPS funds and the corporate risk register, including a number of changes to the methodology, a new risk scoring matrix, and revised mitigation options.

The report explained that these changes included:

• The grouping of risks under appropriate headings
• The addition of a new 'Resources and Skills' heading
• The upgrade of the risk relating to the pooling of assets from amber to red

The report listed sixteen risks that have the potential to affect the Fund, including four relating to funding and investment, four relating to demographics, two relating to cyber security, five relating to administration and one relating to resources and skills. These included:

• The risk that fund assets are insufficient to meet liabilities
• The risk of underperformance by fund managers
• The risk of widespread disruptions within the financial system affecting multiple asset classes or fund managers simultaneously
• The risk of increased transfers out of the fund as a result of the 'freedom and choice' reforms introduced in April 2015
• The risk that the government's pooling agenda could introduce risks for the fund, including potential increases in costs, reduced investment flexibility and challenges in aligning the fund's investment objectives with the collective strategy of the pool
• The risk that employers participating in the fund may face financial difficulties and be unable to meet their pension contribution obligations
• The risk that pension scheme members live longer than expected
• The risk that there may be an increased number of early retirements due to redundancy
• The risk that the number of employees retiring early due to ill-health exceeds the assumptions made by the fund's actuary
• The risk of financial loss, operational disruption and reputational damage resulting from a failure or breach of information technology systems
• The risk of incomplete or inaccurate data within the administration of the fund
• The risk that the fund's investments may be affected by climate change
• The risk that Pension Fund Panel, Board members or officers lack the appropriate skills, knowledge or experience to effectively discharge their responsibilities
• The risk of significant turnover or changes in the membership of the Pension Fund Panel
• The risk that the administration provider, West Yorkshire Pension Fund (WYPF), is unable to attract and retain staff with the appropriate skills and knowledge
• The risk that the Council and the Pool is unable to attract and retain suitable staff.

The report outlined the mitigation options being taken by the Panel to manage each of the listed risks.

General Code of Practice Update

The Panel was scheduled to receive a report on the progress of the assessment being undertaken by the Pension Fund to ensure compliance with The Pensions Regulator's General Code of Practice (GCOP). The GCOP came into force in March 2024, and sets out the conduct and practices that governing bodies of pension schemes should meet to comply with their duties under pensions legislation. The report explained that the assessment was being carried out using a tool developed by Hymans Robertson, and included an update on the modules of the tool that had been completed since the last meeting of the Panel.

The completed modules covered the following topics:

• Scheme governance
• Scheme administration
• Contributions
• IT
• Advisers and service providers
• Knowledge and skills

The report stated that the Pension Board had reviewed these completed modules at its meeting on 30 January 2025, and included a timetable for the review of the remaining modules. These were scheduled to be completed in three phases: by 22 April 2025, 16 July 2025 and 23 September 2025.

CMA - Investment Advisor Objectives

The Panel was scheduled to consider a report requesting that it approve a set of strategic objectives for the fund's investment consultants, in line with requirements introduced by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in December 2019. The report included a schedule of proposed aims and objectives, to be reviewed annually, covering:

• Initial fund appraisal at the start of the contract
• Delivery of specialist processes
• Governance and costs
• Proactivity of advice and updates
• Support with investment monitoring and compliance
• Relationships and service standards

The report stated that the performance of the investment consultants would be measured against these objectives, and explained that this approach is endorsed by the Pensions Regulator, who views it as good practice for pension funds.