The meeting of the ACCESS Joint Committee on Monday, 10 June 2024, focused on updates to the business plan, budget, and risk summary, as well as discussions on operator reprocurement and alternative investments. Key decisions included the approval of cost-sharing arrangements for sub-fund closures and the legal structure for pooled private equity investments.

Business Plan, Budget & Risk Summary

Kevin McDonald, Director of the ACCESS Support Unit (ASU), provided an update on the 2023/24 Business Plan and Budget. He highlighted that PIRC had been working with the ESG/RI sub-group on ACCESS's Responsible Investment (RI) guidelines, stewardship code submission, voting guidelines, and reporting framework. Tavistock Communications, the Pool’s Communications Partner, was involved in discussions on ACCESS’s work and the development of press releases. The Local Pension Board observer arrangements, in place for 12 months, were to be reviewed with input from Authorities. An in-year budget overspend was forecast, continuing the trend reported in December 2023. Legal advice expenditure and support for the Business Plan were also addressed.

In response to a question from the Vice-Chair on the difficulties of single-year budgeting, Mr McDonald assured that multi-year business planning would be considered during the Third Party Review, with support from officers of all Administering Authorities.

Operator Reprocurement

Mark Paget, ASU Contracts Manager, updated the committee on the timescale for the remainder of the Pool operator procurement. Following a question from the Vice-Chair, Mr McDonald confirmed that the required authority to approve operator selection depended on each authority’s governance arrangements.

Contract and Supplier Relationship Management

Mr Paget provided an update on contract and supplier relationship management activity. Members discussed sub-fund closure arrangements and resolved that costs for sub-fund closures would be shared by all investors who had historically been in the sub-fund, except those who exited at least three years prior to closure, in direct proportion to the total value of each Authority’s subscriptions.

Alternative Investments

Alistair Coyle, ASU Client Manager, gave an update on the progress of pooling investments and recommendations for the legal structure of ACCESS’s pooled non-listed investments. The committee resolved that ACCESS would invest in pooled Private Equity through a Scottish Limited Liability Partnership, based on legal advice from Squire Patton Boggs.

Performance Report

Sharon Tan from Suffolk provided an overview of ACCESS performance as of 31 December 2023. The performance report showed that pool and pool-aligned assets totalled £39.357bn, an increase of £4.038bn from the September quarter. Pooled assets and pool-aligned assets accounted for £1.180bn and £2.867bn respectively, an increase of £1.130bn.

Sub-Fund Implementation

Mr Coyle introduced the report updating the Joint Committee on the establishment of sub-funds in the Authorised Contractual Scheme.

Risk Register

Mr Paget provided an update on the risk register, highlighting risks that had softened and split.