The Berkshire Pension Board met to discuss and approve a revised Responsible Investment Policy, recommending it to the Pension Fund Committee for adoption. They also reviewed and recommended changes to climate-related risks on the Pension Fund's Risk Register for adoption by the Pension Fund Committee in December.

Responsible Investment Policy

The board approved the revised Responsible Investment Policy for onward recommendation to the Pension Fund Committee for adoption and publication. The updated policy was developed following three meetings of a specially formed Task and Finish Group. The Head of Pension Fund, Jo Thistlewood, explained that the meetings were well attended and that the discussions held during those sessions had significantly informed the revised policy.

Councillor Alan Cross, Chair of the Berkshire Pension Board, who also participated in the Task and Finish Group, welcomed comments from other members before offering his own observations.

Jeff Ford, Scheme Member Representative, stated that he had reviewed the revised policy and found it to be straightforward and reasonable, expressing no objections to the proposed changes.

Councillor Alan Cross suggested that the second sentence of the first paragraph should explicitly refer to the investment strategy to improve clarity, a suggestion that Jo Thistlewood agreed to implement.

Further discussion focused on paragraph 6.1.3, which Councillor Alan Cross identified as particularly important due to its relevance to recent public interest in aspects of the Fund's management. He noted that the paragraph helped explain the Fund's approach and highlighted the need to balance a range of duties. This paragraph relates to how the fund responds to public concern, and states:

The Fund recognises that Scheme Members, stakeholders, and the wider public may have ethical concerns relating to specific themes, geographies, or industries and wish to raise these with the Fund. While such issues are important, the Fund does not make investment decisions based solely on political or moral grounds. Instead, we assess issues in line with legal obligations, market standards, and our duty to provide pensions.

Councillor Alan Cross also commented on the use of the term stranded assets in paragraph 7.1.1, expressing concern that not all readers would be familiar with the jargon. Jo Thistlewood responded by proposing to include a footnote defining stranded assets as 'those which lose significant economic value before the end of their expected useful life due to becoming unproductive'. Councillor Alan Cross added that, in an investment context, stranded assets typically referred to assets that could not be sold or were sold for significantly less than their expected value.

The board supported the policy's onward recommendation to the Pension Fund Committee.

The Responsible Investment Policy sets out the Fund's key priorities in addressing Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance risks to its investment portfolio. The Responsible Invest Policy Report noted that the Task and Finish Group agreed the final amendments to the Responsible Investment Policy at their meeting on 7 August 2025, and that no changes have been proposed to the previously agreed RI Priorities. The App C changes to RI policy summary document details all of the changes that were made to the policy.

The App A RI policy Equality Impact Assessment notes that all Scheme Members and their dependants may have an interest in the Pension Fund and its policies, and that these are current and former employees of the Administering Authority (RBWM), the other five unitary authorities in Berkshire, including schools, and Town and Parish Councils within Berkshire, as well as Academy Trusts, outsourced contractors from those employers, and other employers who have been admitted to the Pension Fund through admission agreements.

Climate Related Risks

The board agreed to recommend amended climate-related risks to the Pension Fund Committee for adoption at their December 2025 meeting.

Jo Thistlewood explained that two climate-related risks had been present on the register since before her tenure and had remained unchanged. These risks addressed the impact of climate change on both the Fund's assets and liabilities. Jo Thistlewood noted that she had previously expressed discomfort with the risk descriptions, as they were nearly identical except for the transposition of the terms assets and liabilities, and the mitigation actions were similarly repetitive.

Given the recent review of the Responsible Investment Policy, Jo Thistlewood considered it appropriate to revisit these climate-related risks. She had reviewed Risk Registers from other pension funds and held discussions with Local Pensions Partnership Investments (LPPI), Barnett Waddingham (the Fund's actuary), and independent advisers. Based on these consultations, Jo Thistlewood proposed revised risk descriptions and mitigation actions, which were detailed in Appendix A climate related asset risk and Appendix B climate related liability risk of the report. The revised descriptions were tailored to the specific nature of each risk and included updated impacts on the Fund, employers, and reputation. More detailed mitigation actions were also included, having been agreed with LPPI for the asset side and with both Barnett Waddingham and LPPI for the liability side.

Jo Thistlewood confirmed that comments from Douglas Sharp, Independent Advisor (Camdor), had been incorporated into the revisions. Douglas Sharp, drawing on his experience as an independent adviser to both LGPS and private sector schemes, had endorsed the proposed changes and confirmed that the risks and mitigation actions were appropriate and sensible.

The Chair agreed with Jo Thistlewood's view that it was sensible to review the climate-related risks in conjunction with the policy update. The Chair considered the proposed changes to be reasonable and noted that the Risk Register would be subject to more frequent reviews going forward to ensure continued relevance and accuracy.

The Climate related risks briefing note summarises the proposed changes to the risks.