The Wiltshire Pension Fund Committee was scheduled to meet on Thursday 19 June 2025 to discuss responsible investment, review the minutes of the Local Pension Board, and consider a question from the public regarding investments in companies linked to the war in Gaza. The committee was also scheduled to receive updates on investment performance and investment manager fees.

Responsible Investment

The Investment and Accounting Team Lead was scheduled to present a report on the fund's quarterly responsible investment performance. The report included progress against the actions in the Responsible Investment Plan 2025/26, such as climate scenario modelling, development of options for a local investment portfolio, and a social and affordable housing impact report.

The report noted that the development of options for a local investment portfolio had been paused due to considerations of future pooling work. The report also mentioned that the fund had published its stewardship activities, including a stewardship report, site visits, voting reports, and topical investigations.

A member of the public, Alex Hall, submitted a question regarding the fund's investments in companies involved with the genocide that is underway in Palestine. Mr Hall named BAE Systems Plc, General Electric (GE Aerospace), General Dynamics Corp, Honeywell International Inc, L3harris Technologies Inc, Motorola Solutions Inc, Northrop Grumman Corp, Palantir Technologies Inc, Textron Inc, Nice Ltd and Enlight Renewable Energy Ltd, and asked if the WPF intended to divest from these companies, and if not, why not.

Jennifer Devine, Head of Wiltshire Pension Fund, prepared a response, explaining that the WPF's objective is to ensure that investments are managed to ensure that there are enough assets available to pay members' benefits, and to deliver sufficient risk-adjusted returns. Ms Devine's response noted that the strategy for the WPF's portfolio is set by the Pension Fund Committee, and that implementation of the strategy is delegated to professional investment managers, with 70% of the Fund's investments managed by Brunel Pension Partnership (Brunel).

Ms Devine's response stated that Brunel reviews its exposure to the OPT¹ using information provided by the United Nations, and that Brunel expects its managers to be aware of all material investment risks, including those with significant exposure to areas of conflict.

Ms Devine's response also referred to a meeting of the committee on 29 February 2024, where it was agreed that WPF would support Brunel in formally excluding companies that are involved in controversial weapons and those which are Non - Compliant with Principle 2 of UN Global Compact².

Local Pension Board

The committee was scheduled to review the minutes of the Part I meeting of the Local Pension Board held on 22 May 2025.

The minutes of the Local Pension Board meeting of 22 May 2025, noted that Sean Johns had been appointed as the Board's Chairman, and that Lynn Copley had been appointed to the Member Rep vacancy. The minutes also noted the resignations of George Simmonds and Laura Fisher.

The Board considered the Headlines & Monitoring (HAM) Report, which detailed updates on key events across the Pension Fund, scheme, regulatory, legal and fund updates, governance updates, the health check dashboard, the risk register, administration KPIs, and an audit update.

The Board also considered the report of Christopher Moore, Pension Fund Accounting and Investment Team Lead, highlighting the significant issues in relation to the Fund's key financial controls.

The Board also considered the report of James Franklin, The Pensions Administration Lead, which presented an updated Pension Administration Strategy for review by the Board. The Board assessed the appropriateness of the Strategy and supported its approval to the Pension Fund Committee.

The Board also considered the report of Ms Devine which presented an updated Communications Strategy for review, and assessed the appropriateness of the Strategy and supported its approval to the Pension Fund Committee.

The Board received a report from Mr Franklin providing an update on the Fund's performance measures for 2024/25, and a report from Ms Devine, which presented the draft Local Pension Board Annual report for 2024/25.

The Board also considered a report from Mr Franklin which provided an update about the post implementation issues following the Fund's migration of Pensioner Payroll from SAP to Oracle and then Oracle to Altair.

Other Business

The Investment and Accounting Team Lead was scheduled to present a report on the Fund quarterly investment performance. The Investment and Accounting Team Lead was also scheduled to provide an update on Investment Manager fee costs. The Head of Wiltshire Pension Fund was scheduled to provide an update concerning changes to the LGPS³.