The Pension Committee of Gloucestershire Council met on Wednesday 2 July 2025 to discuss a governance and operations update, a funding and investment update, the audit plan for 2024-25, and the pension fund's draft financial statements for 2024-25. The committee was asked to note all reports, and to delegate the response to the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) Access and Fairness Consultation to the Chair of the Pensions Committee.

Gloucestershire Pension Fund Update – Governance and Operations

Matthew Trebilcock, Head of Pensions, was scheduled to present a report updating the committee on governance and operational matters since the previous meeting. The update included:

• Draft minutes from the Pension Board meeting on 19 March 2025.
• Information on the LGPS: Pension Investment Review & Fit for the Future consultation, which outlines reforms for the LGPS aimed at improving financial governance, cost efficiency, and investment strategy. Key reforms include mandatory asset pooling, reduction in the number of pools, local and regional investment, and governance enhancements.
• Details of the LGPS Access and Fairness Consultation (2025), which proposes reforms to improve fairness and accessibility, including ensuring equal pension access, addressing inconsistencies in survivor benefits, tackling the gender pension gap, and reforming outdated forfeiture rules.
• A review of the risk register, including progress and activity in managing risks, main changes since the previous report, and the fund's risk dashboard. One risk remained above the risk target: governance risk 1, regarding a lack of experience, knowledge, and skills on the Pension Committee or Pension Board.
• Key performance indicators (KPIs) based on revised interim targets, with all performance targets for the quarter above target, although death grants performance fell slightly short of the 12-month average.
• An update on the 2025/26 business plan, with all key tasks for Q1 completed and core projects tracking to target, including cyber security strategy implementation, pensions dashboard, employer portal, McCloud remedy¹, The Pension Regulator General Code of Practice, and actuarial services contract.

Gloucestershire Pension Fund Update – Funding & Investment

Matthew Trebilcock, Head of Pensions, was also scheduled to present a report summarizing the fund's funding position, market value, asset allocation, investment performance, responsible investment activity, and engagement activity since the previous committee meeting. The report included:

• The estimated funding position at 31 March 2022 and 31 March 2025, showing an increase in the funding level from 110% to 169%.
• Investment performance, with the fund's total market value decreasing by £33.051m over the quarter to £3,584.157m. Total fund assets underperformed the strategic benchmark by 1.4% over the previous 12 months, with a return of 4.4%.
• Details of investment activities and the strategic asset allocation (SAA), with the allocation to equities moving back within its target range.
• A responsible investment update, including the LAPFF Quarterly Engagement Report and an analysis of equity holdings at whole Fund level as at 31 March 2025.
• The 2025 Responsible Investment and Stewardship Outcomes Report from Brunel Pension Partnership².
• A report from John Arthur, Independent Advisor to the Fund, providing detailed analysis on the overall performance of the Fund, the underlying managers and investment mandates, and the Long-term Capital Market Assumptions used in establishing the SAA.

Audit Plan 2024-25

Matthew Trebilcock, Head of Pensions, was scheduled to present a report providing the opportunity for the Pensions Committee to consider the External Audit Plan for the financial year ending 31 March 2025, which will be undertaken by KPMG³ in their capacity as external auditor of the Gloucestershire Pension Fund. The External Audit Plan sets out the KPMG approach to the audit, the audit cycle timeframe and associated fees.

Pension Fund Draft Financial Statements 2024-25

Matthew Trebilcock, Head of Pensions, was scheduled to present a report providing the opportunity for the Pensions Committee to consider the draft year-end financial statements of the Gloucestershire Pension Fund, that once the audit has been completed will be presented to the Audit Committee for approval as part of Gloucestershire County Council's Accounts. The financial statements are attached as appendix 1 to the report, with the following table showing the income and expenditure, as well as the change in the Fund's value over the year (with the prior year comparators).