The Ealing Council Pension Fund Panel were scheduled to meet on 9 December 2025 in The Elizabeth Cantell Room, Perceval House, Ealing. The agenda included presentations on training, updates on pension fund administration, and a review of the fund's performance. Some items, including training and appendices relating to fund performance, were scheduled to be discussed in private due to the confidential nature of the information.

Pension Fund Performance

The Pension Fund Panel were scheduled to receive an update on the performance of the fund's investments for the quarter ending 30 September 2025. According to the report, the value of the Fund Investments was £1,889.6m as at 30 September 2025, an increase from £1,777.4m as at 30 June 2025.

The panel were also scheduled to note updates on the Lothbury Property Trust and Federated Hermes, including the closure of the former, and to note the update on the Federated Hermes and LGIM property merger.

The report noted that the migration from the LGIM Low Carbon Target Fund to the LGIM Paris Aligned Fund to support the Fund's net zero strategy had been implemented.

The report also stated that top ups to the Fund's existing private debt and infrastructure mandates were progressing following Pension Fund Panel approval, with the aim of bringing the overall allocations back in line with the Fund's agreed strategic targets.

Buckinghamshire Pension Fund had applied to join the London CIV[^2], and as existing owners of the LCIV the panel were scheduled to consider and agree to their admission.

The government had launched a consultation on draft regulations proposing mandatory pooling, strengthened governance, and revised investment requirements for LGPS funds, and the panel were scheduled to note the details of the draft regulations, their implications, and required timelines.

The report stated that the Strategic Director, Resources had delegated authority to continue implementing the Fund's Strategic Asset Allocation, in consultation with the Chair and Vice Chair, ahead of the transition to pooling from 1 April 2026, and that a progress update would be brought back to the panel at the earliest opportunity.

The panel were scheduled to note some of the upcoming activities in the investment pipeline:

• Establishing a revised property structure following the liquidation of one of the Funds property mandates and implementing any changes including redeploying the Fund's underweight property allocation either through existing managers or through new mandates.
• Reviewing the Equity portfolio with the intention of realigning the weights across active, passive, and private equity allocations.
• Implementation of the revised bond structure mainly allocating approximately 10% (circa £190m) of the Fund to Index Linked Gilts.
• Transitioning the balance of the Fund's corporate bond mandate into a suitable offering within the London CIV (LCIV). The LCIV All Maturities Buy and Maintain Credit Fund was being considered.
• Continuing to implement previously approved top ups, with any necessary adjustments to be made to protect the Fund's interests.

The Strategic Director, Resources also had delegated authority to take all actions necessary to support the transition to investment pooling, including agreeing amendments to articles or signing Investment Management Agreements to facilitate the transition of assets to the LCIV and to enable other LGPS Funds to join the LCIV.

The panel were scheduled to receive a presentation from Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) on the property mandate inherited from Hermes, and a presentation from the Fund's Actuaries, Mercer, on the initial outcome of the Triennial Actuarial Valuation, which ensures the ongoing solvency of the Fund and will determine the employer contribution coming into force from 1 April 2026.

The report also included appendices on the Fund's 16 largest holdings, LCIV Global Alpha Voting, and a Lothbury Property Trust Update.

Pension Fund Administration

The Pension Fund Panel were scheduled to receive an update on the performance of the Local Pensions Partnership Administration (LPPA), the external contractor responsible for the pension administration contract.

The report included LPPA's Quarterly Administration report Q2 2025-26, which showed an overall SLA performance of 98.3%, meeting the 95% target. It also provided an update on the payroll data cleanse, stating that 1,183 pension reviews had been completed out of 2,009 in scope, with 9 resulting in a change to the i-Trent payroll figures.

The report noted that the 31 October 2025 Pension dashboard connection deadline was not achieved due to an issue during the IT Health Check stage. LPPA's target for connection was mid-December, along with the AVC information.

The panel were also scheduled to discuss a consultation on scheme improvements, including:

• Amending the Normal Minimum Pension Age (NMPA) from age 55 to age 57 with effect from 6 April 2028.
• Restoring LGPS access for councillors in England and extending it to mayors.
• Simplifying arrangements for multi-academy trusts so staff from different schools can participate in the same pension fund.
• Introducing Fair Deal protections for workers outsourced from local government, ensuring they maintain seamless LGPS access.

The report stated that the LPPA were continuing to work on McCloud Remedy Retrospective payments, with initial analysis suggesting that 10% to 15% of 'retrospective' members were eligible for remedy, and 5% of these would require an underpin payment.

The report also included appendices on the Ealing Pension Fund Data Quality Overview Q2 2025-26, the Complaints Board Q2 2025-26, and Ealing Complaints Q2 2025-26.

Training Presentations

The Pension Fund Panel were scheduled to receive three training presentations:

• A presentation from Robert Rayner, Senior Client Manager, Asset Management, LGIM Management Property Fund and Rob Codling, Senior Fund Manager, from Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM).
• A presentation by Michelle Doman, Senior Principal, and Jonathan Perera, Principal, from Mercer, on the 2025 actuarial valuation draft Funding Strategy Statement (FSS) outcomes.
• A presentation on Index Linked Gilts by Matt Woodman from Hymans.