The Investment Committee of the City of London Corporation met on 21 July 2025 to discuss investment governance, treasury management, business plan progress and risk management. The committee was scheduled to discuss revisions to standing orders regarding property transaction thresholds, receive an update on the treasury management portfolio, review the City Surveyor's Department business plan, and consider updates to the risk register. Some items were marked for exclusion of the public due to the disclosure of exempt information.

Investment Governance Update

The committee was scheduled to discuss a report regarding investment governance, specifically concerning revisions to the thresholds for investment property transactions as outlined in the standing orders. The report, a joint effort by the City Surveyors and the Town Clerk, included a recommendation to amend these thresholds and authorise the Town Clerk to update the Scheme of Delegation to Officers accordingly.

The proposed changes aimed to allow for more dynamic management of the investment portfolios, with increased authorisation for officers to make decisions on property transactions in a more agile manner, while still allowing members to retain oversight of the strategic direction of the investment portfolio.

The report noted that the City Surveyor had reviewed the delegation procedure controls for the City's Estate and City Fund, with several controls to be applied. These included:

• Annual plans for both City Fund and City Estate to include planned property interests for disposal.
• If an acquisition or disposal not included in the annual plan is brought forward, the City Surveyor and Chamberlain must agree to the principle of the transaction.
• The Director Investment Property Group approves terms of transactions up to £10 million.
• The City Surveyor approves terms of transactions between £10 million and £20 million.
• All transactions will be subject to verification by the Valuation Panel.
• The Terms of Reference for the Valuation Panel for investment property transactions will be extended to include approval of the rationale, terms and value of the transaction.
• All proposed transactions will be subject to a report similar to a Committee Report which will be circulated for consultation across all the relevant departments specifically including the Chamberlain, City Surveyor, Comptroller and City Solicitor, Town Clerk.
• The Town Clerk and City Surveyor will establish a system for auditing and recording all transactions within this procedure.
• Investment and Finance Committees will be notified of all transaction under delegated authorities in accordance with the current practice of updating on actions taken under delegation.

The report also detailed a proposed update to approved increases to the thresholds for investment property transactions, specifically regarding leasehold restructurings. The recommendation was to add grants of leases of less than 175 years with premiums to be subject to the same delegation to officers.

Treasury Management Update

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on the treasury management portfolio as of 31 May 2025. The report included a summary of the City of London Corporation's treasury management portfolio (investments), an update on the current asset allocation of the short-term investment portfolio, and its performance. A monthly investment review report produced by the Corporation's treasury management consultants, MUFG Corporate Markets, was included as an appendix.

The treasury management investment portfolio had a market value of £1,036.9m as at 31 May 2025, which is an increase of £80.3m from the balance previously reported as at 31 March 2025 (£956.6m).

The report also noted that the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose by 3.4% in the 12 months to May 2025, and that the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) cut bank rate to 4.25% at its May meeting. MUFG Corporate Markets are forecasting the bank rate to decline to 4.00% by December 2025, and 3.75% by March 2026.

City Surveyor's Business Plan Update

The committee was scheduled to receive a report providing details of key performance indicators in the second half of the year (October 2025 to March 2025) against the 2024-29 Business Plan.

The report noted that the department successfully delivered against its approved objectives set out in the Business Plan amidst a challenging environment. Of the twelve key performance indicators tracked by this committee, seven successfully achieved their targets, while two fell short:

• KPI. 3. Achieve Rental Forecasts: Rent generated from commercial leases managed by the City Surveyors Department. Target for this year £102.5m. The outturn figure was £101.2m.
• KPI.12 Property Contract Performance Compliance: This measures compliance with property contract performance, had a target of 80%. The actual performance recorded was 78%.

At the time of writing this report three key performance indicators remain outstanding:

• KPI.4 Minimise Arrears: There are issues with the management information due to outstanding credits that the Corporation has received and are unallocated to tenant accounts. The City Surveyor's Department is working closely with Chamberlain's to address this issue.
• KPI. 6 Outperform MSCI: This will be included in the next update report to this committee.
• KPI. 11 Reduction of Energy Use Intensity across each portfolio: Due to insufficient information from our data provider it was not possible to finalise the figures for 2024/25. This will be assessed across the year in 2025/26.

Risk Register Update

The committee was scheduled to receive a quarterly update on the management of risks relevant to the committee. This included updates on three risk registers:

• Overarching Risk Register: This captures risks relating to the overall investment portfolio.
• City Surveyor's Departmental Risk Register: This maintains a comprehensive risk register of matters pertaining to the department's operation and objectives.
• Corporate Treasury Risk Register: This captures risks relating to the treasury function and the City's Estate financial investments.

Since the risk registers were last reviewed at the May meeting, the following change has been made in relation to the Overarching Risk Register:

• IC 04 Cashflow Management has decreased in likelihood reducing it from an 8 (Amber) to a 4 (Green) as cash flow modelling has now been developed and is monitored and updated regularly.

In relation to the CSD Risk Register, the following changes have been made:

• SUR SMT 009 Recruitment and retention of property professionals has been decreased from 16 (Red) to a 12 (Amber). This change reflects positive outcomes of recent recruitment efforts.
• SUR SMT 016 Investment Property Group Staffing and Capacity has also decreased in likelihood giving it a reduced rating from a 12 (Amber) to an 8 (Amber). This reflects positive progress in recruiting to vacant positions.
• SMT 010 Insurance – Investment and Corporate Estate has reduced in scoring from an 8 (Amber) to a 4 (Green) reflecting the progression of the valuation process.

Exclusion of the Public

A motion was scheduled to be put forward to exclude the public from the meeting for certain items. This was on the grounds that they involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972¹, or related to functions of the Court of Common Council which are not subject to the provisions of Part VA and Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.