The Local Pension Board met on Monday to discuss current pension fund matters and review the fund's investment performance. The board was also scheduled to discuss updates from the pension administration function, including the migration to a new member self-service portal.

Here's a breakdown of the key items from the agenda:

Pension Fund Matters and Investment Performance

The Local Pension Board was scheduled to receive an update on current pension scheme matters as of 30 September 2025. The report pack included an overview of the performance of the Pension Fund's investments.

The report pack noted that global equity markets had generally risen over the quarter, attributing this to positive corporate earnings and trade developments between the US and China. It also noted mixed performance in bond markets, with US Treasury yields falling while UK and European yields rose due to concerns about the fiscal deficit and high inflation.

The report pack included a review of the fund's asset allocation. It stated that the fund's investment strategy, revised in February 2024, included commitments to invest £48 million in the LCIV UK Housing Fund¹ and £30 million in the Nature Based Fund. The report pack contained tables outlining the fund's value by investment mandate as of 30 June and 30 September 2025, along with strategic asset allocation percentages. For example, as of September 30, 2025, £62.686 million (5.43% of the portfolio) was allocated to Schroders for equity in emerging markets, while £264.828 million (22.93% of the portfolio) was allocated to Legal & General for low carbon equity.

The report pack also included performance data for the fund as a whole and for individual investment mandates.

As the 30 September 2025, the bid value of the Fund was £ 60.552m higher than the previous quarter.

The report pack stated that the fund had outperformed its benchmark over the quarter and three years, but under-performed over a five-year period.

Pension Administration Update

The Local Pension Board was scheduled to receive an update from the pension administration function, which is responsible for tasks such as calculating and paying pensions, collecting contributions, providing information, and maintaining pension records. The team comprised 10.25 full-time equivalent staff, including a newly created deputy manager post and a technical officer post.

The report pack stated that the team was working on several key areas:

• Continuing to work with the Corporate Fraud Team, with no new cases of significant overpayment of pensions identified.
• Processing retirement cases, transfers, and deaths.
• Migrating from Member Self Service (MSS) to Engage, a new member portal, in December, with existing MSS users moving seamlessly to the new portal in January 2026.
• Encouraging scheme members to use Member Self Service, particularly targeting school staff.
• Tracing approximately 700 members with a gone away indicator after producing annual benefit statements.
• Ceasing paper annual benefit statements sent in the post to comply with the council's digital programme and save costs.

The report pack also noted ongoing work related to the McCloud Judgement² and the 2025 fund valuation. The report pack included data on administrative performance against targets, including the timeliness of processing new member records, retirements, and statutory notices.

Other Business

The agenda included standard items such as apologies for absence, declarations of interest, and approval of the minutes from the previous meeting held on 2 October 2025. The Board was also scheduled to set the date for the next meeting as 16 March 2026.