The Pension Fund Investment Sub-Committee were scheduled to meet on Monday 9 June 2025 to appoint a chair and vice-chair, review the minutes of a previous meeting of the Warwickshire Local Pension Board, and discuss a report on pension fund governance. The meeting was also scheduled to consider excluding the public from discussions of the 2025 valuation asset liability modelling, investments, a quarterly investment management report and the exempt minutes of previous meetings.

Chair and Vice-Chair

The first items on the agenda were the appointment of a Chair and Vice-Chair of the Pension Fund Investment Sub-Committee for the 2025/26 municipal year.

Pension Fund Governance

The Pension Fund Investment Sub-Committee was scheduled to consider a report summarising the main governance issues affecting the Warwickshire Pension Fund. The report covered the fund's forward plan, risk monitoring, updated policies, and training.

According to the report, risk management is critical to minimise the impact of events that could negatively affect the pension fund. A risk register is maintained to record the main risks, accompanied by inherent and residual risk scores, which are determined by fund officers through a structured assessment process. The risks and their residual risk scores were summarised in a chart.

The report stated that three pension fund policies had been reviewed and updated following recommendations from a full governance review of the fund. These policies primarily pertain to the fund's administration and governance functions. The updated policy documents were scheduled to be presented in full at the Staff and Pensions Committee meeting. The policies that were scheduled to be discussed were:

• Communications Policy - Outlines how the fund will communicate with its stakeholders, including current and prospective scheme members, employers, and other representatives. Updates have been made to wording to reflect the current systems used by the Fund, including the move from Member Self Service to Engage. > An action from the recent governance review recommended that a section be included to identify the risks associated with the successful delivery of the Communications Policy and these have been added to the document in section 14.
• Breaches Policy - Publishes the process that the pension fund and its stakeholders must adhere to when reporting breaches of pensions law to the Pensions Regulator¹.
• Data Retention Policy - Reviewed and checked against the Local Government Association (LGA) template for Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) Funds' data retention policies.

A training plan for members of the Pension Fund Investment Sub-Committee, Staff and Pensions Committee and Local Pension Board was also included in the report. The plan provides for members of each group to complete two LGPS Online Learning Academy modules per quarter. Completion of the eight modules will give introductory training in each of the core knowledge and skills areas identified in CIPFA's² Knowledge and Skills Framework as necessary for members of these committees.

Warwickshire Local Pension Board

The Pension Fund Investment Sub-Committee was scheduled to note the minutes of the Warwickshire Local Pension Board meeting of 21 January 2025.

Items discussed at the Warwickshire Local Pension Board meeting on 21 January 2025 included:

• An update on the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) 'Fit for the Future' consultation³.
• A governance review and compliance with the code of practice. Alistair Wickens, Technical Specialist Pensions Fund Policy and Governance, told members the report summarised the results of the first part of the full governance review with AON⁴.
• A review of the Responsible Investment Policy. Dapo Shonola, Pensions Investment and Governance Manager, said the responsible investment policy had been due for review by officers and brought to the meeting for members to note. There had been no amendments to the policy following the review, although there had been some changes to related policies.
• Pension administration activity and performance. Lisa Eglesfield, Pensions Administration Service Manager, said usage of the member self-service portal was slowly increasing and a new version of the portal was due to be launched on 1 April following the signing of a contract with the current supplier.
• An investment review. Paul Higginbotham, Investment Analyst, reported that the portfolio had increased in value by 0.7 per cent, which represented just under £3billion and was above target despite a quiet last quarter.
• A governance, regulatory and policy update report. Alistair Wickens said the Forward Plan had been updated to include a full governance review at the April meeting and the risk register had been updated to add compliance with the General Code of Practice.