The Islington Pensions Board was scheduled to meet to discuss pension fund performance, administration, and strategy. They were also expected to review the risk register and forward work programme.

Actuarial Valuation and Funding Strategy

The board was scheduled to discuss the 2025 actuarial valuation and a draft funding strategy statement (FSS). The fund actuary was expected to present the initial whole fund result and parameter considerations for the funding strategy statement consultation.

The board was asked to agree on proposed funding strategy assumptions and parameters for consultation with employers between December and January 2026. They were also asked to agree to allow officers and the fund actuary to update the draft FSS for consultation with employers admitted into the Islington Pension Fund.

The report pack stated that the Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations 2013 (as amended) and the Local Government Pension Scheme (Transitional Provisions, Savings and Amendment) Regulations 2014 require the council to prepare a Funding Strategy Statement.

The report pack also noted key assumptions used by the actuary:

• Discount rate of CPI+2.8% (past service) and CPI+2.25% (future service)
• Inflation rate of 2.6% per year
• Life Expectancy assumptions based on fund membership data

The report pack stated that, subject to the board's approval, the actuary calculated the long-term average future employer contribution rate for the whole fund to be 16.0% of pensionable pay, and the funding level to be 112%, equivalent to a surplus of assets over liabilities of £215m.

The board was asked to agree to receive the consultation results and delegate powers to officers to update and finalise the draft FSS for committee sign-off at the next meeting in March 2026.

Pension Fund Performance

The board was scheduled to discuss the pension fund's performance from 1 July to 30 September 2025. Councillors were asked to note the fund's performance as per the BNY Mellon interactive performance report and to receive a presentation from Apex, the council's independent investment advisers, on fund managers' quarterly performance.

The report pack included a table summarising the fund managers' performance:

The report pack also included a report from Apex, which provided an overview of the external managers. According to the Apex report:

• The Legal and General Investment Management (LGIM) ESG Paris Aligned World Equity Fund was within its expected range, when compared with the benchmark, in Q3 2025.
• The Schroders Diversified Growth Fund (DGF) made a return of +5.71% in Q2 2025, and in relative terms it outperformed the RPI + 5% target on a quarterly basis by +4.10%.
• The LCIV Global Equity Fund (Newton) underperformed its benchmark during Q3 2025 by -4.06%, delivering a return of +5.60% compared to +9.66% of the benchmark.
• Over Q3 2025, the LCIV Sustainable Equity Fund (Exclusion fund) made a return of +8.13%, underperforming compared to the benchmark return by -1.06%.
• During its third quarter, the Amundi Emerging Markets fund returned +11.50%, underperforming the benchmark by -1.44%.
• During Q3 2025, the M&G Sustainable Alpha Opportunities Fund made a return of +1.52%, underperforming the benchmark return of +1.84%.
• The Standard Life Corporate Bond Fund outperformed the benchmark return during the quarter by +0.01% delivering a return of +0.70%.
• The Aviva Lime Fund made a return of +0.51% for the quarter to September, outperforming the benchmark return by +1.92% in Q3.
• The Columbia Threadneedle Pooled Property Fund delivered a positive absolute return and slightly outperformed the benchmark in Q3 2025, with a quarterly return of +1.23% compared to the benchmark return of +1.20%.
• The Franklin Templeton Private Real Estate Fund portfolio in aggregate delivered a return of -17.68% p.a. over the three years to September 2025, underperforming the absolute return benchmark of 10% p.a. over three years by -27.39% p.a.
• As at Q3 2025, the Hearthstone UK Residential Property Fund has completed on 152 property sales for a total of £41m since its termination began.
• Performance for the three years to September 2025 for the Quinbrook Low Carbon Power Fund was -0.17% p.a. and therefore was below the target of 12% p.a. by 12.17% p.a.
• Over three years to end September, the return on the Pantheon Private Equity Fund was - 10.15 % per annum, compared with a three-year return on listed global equities of +17.14% per annum.
• The Churchill Middle Market Senior Loan Fund has achieved a one-year return of +8.93% to 30th September 2025, outperforming the absolute target return of +5.00% by +3.93%.
• The Crescent Credit Solutions Fund VIII achieved a 1-year return of +6.52% as to 30 September 2025, underperforming the target return of +10.0% by -3.48%.
• As at Q3 2025, the Permira Credit Solutions V delivered a 12-month return of +9.16%, outperforming its 6% target.

Pension Administration Performance

The board was scheduled to review a report on the administration activities and performance of the Pension Administration for the period 1 August 2025 to 31 October 2025.

The report included data on:

• The number of members auto-enrolled into the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).
• Information relating to the Internal Dispute Resolution Procedure¹, compliments, and complaints.
• Performance data for the administration activities of the council's Pensions Office.
• Any new Internal Audit Investigations in Pensions Administration.
• Updates from the Scheme Advisory Board, the Pensions Administration Standards Association (PASA), and the Local Government Association (LGA).
• Developments on the Pensions Dashboard².
• McCloud Remedy Updates³.

The report pack stated that key processes have increased by approximately 8.7% and performance is up by 4% by the Pensions Team.

The report also noted that the Pension Office received 11 communications thanking Pension Administration staff for their service and 4 complaints:

• Complaint 1: Delay in member receiving transfer value quotation for divorce
• Complaint 2: Delay in responding to member regarding re-calc of pension benefits following pay award
• Complaint 3: Member challenging the assumed pensionable pay upon which their care benefits have been assessed
• Complaint 4: Delay in completing transfer-in due to a lack of understanding of the process by the member

The report pack stated that all complaints have been resolved informally and there are no active complaints under the IDRP.

Pensions Risk Register

The board was scheduled to note the contents of the report and revisions made to the Pensions Risk Register (PRR).

The report provided information on potential risks identified in the administration of Islington Pension Fund and mitigation measures to prevent them from becoming critical problems.

The report pack stated that there was one new activity that has been assessed as high:

• Risk 9 – School Payroll Externalisation & Late Reporting: The Council will no longer provide an in-house Schools Payroll solution from May 2026, and Islington Schools are making alternative arrangements with external payroll providers.

The report pack also noted that:

• Risk 12 – Pensions Portal Query Management: This new risk focuses on member query management following the successful implementation of the pension's portal.
• Risk 13 – Delayed Implementation of iConnect Tool: The deployment of the iConnect application has been further delayed.
• Risk 14 – Pensions Dashboard Query Management: This new risk focuses on managing user queries as the Pensions Dashboard Programme moves into the testing phase.

Forward Work Programme

The board was scheduled to note the forward programme of business for the board. The report pack stated that the Pensions Board has responsibility for assisting the 'scheme manager' in relation to:

• Compliance with the Local Government Pension Scheme Regulation (LGPS) and other legislation relating to the governance and administration of the LGPS.
• Requirements imposed by the Pensions Regulator in relation to the LGPS to ensure the effective and efficient governance and administration of the scheme.