This was a meeting of the Islington Council Pensions Board. Its purpose was to consider a range of matters relating to the administration and performance of the Islington Pension Fund. The most significant items on the agenda included an update on the performance of the Pension Fund, and a review of a draft annual report on the fund.

Pension Fund Performance

A report titled Pension Fund Performance 1 April to 30 June 2024 was prepared for the meeting by the Corporate Director of Resources. The report contained a detailed account of the performance of the Islington Pension Fund over the first quarter of the 2024/25 financial year. The report included performance information relating to the overall fund, as well as its individual components.

The Islington Pension Fund uses a variety of external fund managers to manage its investments. The report contains a section for each of the managers, containing details of their performance during the quarter, and details of any significant events that had taken place in their portfolios during the quarter.

The report also included a presentation prepared by Apex, Islington's independent investment advisors.

Draft 2023/24 Annual Pension Fund Report

A report titled Draft 2023/24 Annual Pension Fund Report was prepared for the meeting by the Corporate Director of Resources. It included a draft of the 2023/24 annual report for the Islington Pension Fund. The draft report contained a summary of the fund’s financial position, including a statement of accounts for the fund for the 2023/24 financial year. The draft report also contained summaries of the council's strategy for managing the fund's assets, and its strategy for ensuring that the fund has sufficient resources to pay the pensions of its members. The report included a summary of the democratic arrangements for oversight of the fund, which involve both the Islington Council Pensions Committee and the Islington Council Local Pension Board.

The draft report included a statement by Mercer, the Fund's actuaries, containing the results of their last full actuarial valuation of the Fund. This valuation was carried out as at 31 March 2022. The actuaries assessed the value of the fund's assets as being £1,787 million. The actuaries also calculated that the fund needed to hold £1,866 million to cover all of its liabilities¹. This means that the fund had a funding deficit of £79 million, and that its assets represented 96% of the amount it needed to cover its liabilities.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Pensions Board held on Wednesday 31 July 2024 were provided for review at the meeting. According to the minutes, the meeting was chaired by Mr George Sharkey, and was attended by Mr Alan Begg, Mr Mike Calvert, Ms Valerie Easmon-George and Councillor Una O’Halloran. Councillor Paul Convery also attended the meeting, in his capacity as Chair of the Pensions Committee. Mr Ian Ship also attended as an observer, before his appointment to the board.

The minutes note that there was no discussion of declarations of interest. The minutes also record that the board received apologies from Councillor Satnam Gill OBE, who was unable to attend the meeting.

The minutes record that the board confirmed the minutes of the meeting held on 20 March 2024, and that it thanked Ms Maggie Elliot, the former vice-chair of the board, for her service.

Training and Conferences

The minutes of the previous meeting record that Mr Alan Begg had attended a conference on investment. The conference was about zero asset investments, which the minutes do not explain. The minutes note that Mr Begg suggested that board members receive training on the Pension Regulator: Code of Practice. This is a code of practice published by the Pensions Regulator that provides guidance on how pension schemes should be run.

Pension Administration Performance - February to April 2024

The minutes of the previous meeting record that the board received a verbal report on the administration of the Islington Pension Fund during the period from February to April 2024. According to the minutes, the verbal report was provided by the Assistant Director, Treasury and Pensions, and the Pensions Manager. The minutes record that the Assistant Director and Pensions Manager reported on a number of aspects of the fund's administration, including the number of members in the fund, and the number of staff administering the fund. The minutes also note that the Assistant Director and Pensions Manager reported on the number of complaints received by the fund.

Risk Register Review

The minutes of the previous meeting record that the board received a report on the fund's risk register. According to the minutes, the report was introduced by the Deputy Director of Finance. The report does not appear to have been included in the meeting pack. The minutes record that the board recommended a number of revisions to the risk register. The minutes do not describe the content of these revisions in detail.

Pension Fund - Draft 2023/24 Year End Accounts

The minutes of the previous meeting record that the board reviewed the draft statement of accounts for the 2023/24 financial year. The draft statement of accounts was provided as an appendix to a report titled Pension Fund - Draft 2023/24 Year End Accounts. The minutes record that the board recommended a number of typographical corrections to the draft statement of accounts. The minutes also record that the board praised officers for completing the draft accounts in time for the Annual General Meeting, which took place on Monday 30 September 2024.

LGPS - Pensions Administration - KPI Review

The minutes of the previous meeting record that the board received a report titled LGPS - Pensions Administration - KPI Review. According to the minutes, the report described plans to change the way that the council measures the performance of the team that administers the Islington Pension Fund. The minutes record that the board noted the report.

Pension Performance Report

The minutes of the previous meeting record that the board received a verbal update on the performance of the Islington Pension Fund from Councillor Paul Convery. Councillor Convery is the chair of the Pensions Committee. According to the minutes, Councillor Convery spoke about a number of aspects of the fund's performance, including the investment strategy review and the proposed restructure of the passive equity mandate².

The minutes record that Councillor Convery told the board that the Pensions Committee had appointed a new manager to invest in emerging markets using a pooled fund. The minutes also record that Councillor Convery told the board that the Pensions Committee had approved a new strategic allocation for impact investments, which are investments that are intended to have a positive social or environmental impact. The minutes do not describe this new strategic allocation in detail.

The minutes also note that Councillor Convery told the board that the Pensions Committee was considering changing the index³ that is used for passive equity investments to exclude companies that are on a list of businesses involved in activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory that are deemed compliant in human rights abuses. The minutes also record that Councillor Convery told the board that the Pensions Committee had asked officers to consult with members about a proposal to consolidate two passive equity pooled funds into a single fund.

The minutes record that members of the board asked Councillor Convery about the performance of two of the fund's investment managers: Pantheon and Quinbrook. According to the minutes, Councillor Convery reassured the board that both were likely to recover performance and that they were long-term investments.

Pensions Board Forward Work Programme

The minutes of the previous meeting record that the board received a verbal update on the board's forward work programme. According to the minutes, the verbal report was provided by the Assistant Director Treasury and Pensions. The minutes record that the Assistant Director said that a draft of the Pension Fund Annual Report would be circulated to board members in August or September.

Pensions Administration Update

A report titled Pensions Administration Update was prepared for the meeting by the Corporate Director of Resources. The report contained a number of statistics about the administration of the Islington Pension Fund over the first six months of the 2024/25 financial year, from 1 April 2024 to 30 September 2024.

The report noted that there had been an increase in the number of employers participating in the fund, from 29 to 30.

The report also included data about how long it was taking the Pensions team to respond to requests from scheme members and employers. These are measured using key performance indicators (KPIs). According to the report, the target for the deaths process is to respond to 90% of requests within 5 days. During the first six months of the year, the team responded to 91% of requests within an average of 7.3 days. The target for the retirement benefits process is to respond to 90% of requests within 5 days. During the first six months of the year, the team responded to 88% of requests within an average of 6.1 days. The report provides similar data for a range of other processes, including paying refunds, dealing with starters and leavers, and processing transfers into and out of the fund.

The report also included a summary of the activity of the Scheme Advisory Board, which is a board that was established as a requirement of The Public Service Pensions Act 2013 to advise the council on the administration of the Islington Pension Fund.

Risk Register

A document titled LBI PenBoard Pensions Risk Register Jun2024 was provided to the attendees for the meeting. The document is a risk register for the Islington Pension Fund. A risk register is a document that lists all of the risks that an organisation faces, and describes how the organisation plans to manage those risks. The risk register included 11 risks.

Pensions Board Forward Programme

A report titled Pensions Board Forward Programme was prepared for the meeting. It listed the topics that are scheduled to be discussed at future meetings of the board.