The Islington Pensions Board met on 13 October 2025 to discuss the pension fund's performance, administration, and future work programme. The board was also scheduled to review the draft summary of the Pension Fund Annual Report.

Pension Fund Performance

The Pensions Board was scheduled to receive an update on the Pension Fund's performance between 1 April and 30 June 2025. This included a presentation by Apex, the council's independent investment advisers, on the quarterly performance of fund managers, as well as a report from PIRC comparing the fund's performance to a peer universe of 63 funds as of 31 March 2025.

The report pack included details of the fund managers, their asset allocation, asset value, mandate, Mercer ESG Rating¹ and performance. The report pack stated that the fund's value as of March 2025 was £2,011 million. The report pack stated that the fund had the following strategic asset allocation:

• 45% Equities
• 20% Property
• 10% Private Debt
• 14.5% Infrastructure including natural capital
• 3% Impact investment
• 7.5% Multi asset credit
• 0% Investment grade credit
• 0% Diversified growth fund
• 0% Cash

The report pack stated that the Islington combined fund performance hedged, compared to its customised benchmark, was:

• 1 year per annum: Fund 6.5%, Benchmark 8.3%
• 3 years per annum: Fund 7.3%, Benchmark 8.8%
• 5 years per annum: Fund 7.4%, Benchmark 7.6%

The report pack stated that, compared to its peer group, as at fiscal year-end 31st March:

The report pack stated that the fund aims to hedge 50% of its overseas equities to the major currencies' dollar, euro and yen, and that at the end of the June quarter, the hedged overseas equities had a positive cash value of £32.0m.

The report pack also included commentary on the performance of the fund's investment managers:

• LCIV Sustainable EQ- RBC, which was reported to have over performed its quarterly benchmark to June by 1.5%, but had a twelve-month under performance of -1.6%.
• LCIV -Newton, which was reported to have returned 5.8% against a benchmark of 5.2% for the June quarter, and a 12-month over performance of 0.3% against a benchmark of 7.6%.
• Legal & General-Paris Aligned, which was reported to have returned 6.0% against a benchmark of 6.1% and valued at £491m at the end of the June quarter.
• Amundi, which was reported to have achieved a return of 4.4% against a benchmark of 4.9%.
• Quinbrook, which was reported to have delivered a return of -0.3% against a benchmark of 2.9% for the quarter, and a 12 month performance of 4.7% against a benchmark of 12.0%.
• Pantheon, which was reported to have delivered a return of -5.8% against a benchmark of 2.4% for the quarter, and a 12 month performance of -2.1% against a benchmark of 10.0%.
• Aviva, which was reported to have delivered a return of 0.7% against a gilt benchmark of 2.0%.
• Columbia Threadneedle Investments (TPEN), which was reported to have delivered a return of 1.2% against a benchmark of 1.5%.
• Franklin Templeton, which was reported to have delivered a return of -11.7% against a benchmark of 2.4%.
• Hearthstone, which was reported to have delivered a return of -28.4% against a benchmark of 1.7%.
• Standard Life, which was reported to have delivered a return of 2.8% against a benchmark of 2.8%.
• M&G Sustainable Alpha Opportunities, which was reported to have delivered a return of 1.1% against a benchmark of 1.9%.
• Schroders, which was reported to have delivered a return of 3.4% against a benchmark of 3.5%.
• Churchill Senior loan Fund IV, which was reported to have delivered a return of -4.3% against a benchmark of 1.2%.
• Permira Credit Solution, which was reported to have delivered a return of 2.1% against a benchmark of 1.5%.
• Crescent Capital, which was reported to have delivered a return of -3.9% against a benchmark of 2.4%.

Draft 2024/25 Summary Pension Fund Annual Report

The Pensions Board was scheduled to review the draft 2024/25 Summary Pension Fund Annual Report, which is required to be signed off by external auditors KPMG and published by 1 December 2025. The report includes the pension fund statement of account to March 2025, fund activities, governance, and performance. A summarised copy of the report, without the statements of accounts, was attached as an appendix for review.

The draft annual report included a foreword from Councillor Paul Convery, Chair of Pensions Committee, who noted that the Fund performed well in the year under review, with a total market value increase from £1.94bn to £2.03bn and a return of 5.1%. He also noted the intense political and economic uncertainty in the United States and the upcoming changes to the LGPS, including the super-pool of all Pension Funds.

The draft annual report stated that the fund had over-achieved its decarbonisation targets, including:

• Investing at least 20% of the fund in sustainability-themed investments by the end of April 2026 (March 2025 achieved: 40%)
• Reducing carbon emissions of all listed portfolios by 49% at 2026, and 60% by 2030 with a 2016 baseline (March 2025 achieved: 48%)
• Absolute emissions measured in tonnes of CO2e of all listed assets measured against 2021 baseline has now reduced by 52%.

The draft annual report stated that the Pensions Committee had significantly reduced its exposure to weapons manufacturers and companies alleged to be complicit in human rights abuses and illegal occupation of land, in response to the situation in Israel/Palestine.

The draft annual report included a summary of fund manager performance, with the following 12-month returns to 31 March 2025:

• London LGPS CIV RBC sub fund (Global equities): 1.4%
• London LGPS CIV Newton sub fund (Global equities): 4.5%
• Legal and General Paris Aligned (Global equities): 2.4%
• Amundi (Emerging equities): N/A
• Standard Life (Corporate bonds): 2.8%
• M&G Sustainable (Multi asset credit): 7.6%
• Aviva (Property): 2.9%
• Columbia Threadneedle (Property): 6.7%
• Franklin Templeton (Property): -22.7%
• Hearthstone (Property): 15.6%
• Standard Life (Private equity): -27.2%
• Pantheon (Private equity): -10.3%
• Schroders (Diversified growth fund): 4.3%
• Pantheon (Infrastructure): 10.1%
• Quinbrook (Infrastructure): 7.1%
• Churchill (Private debt): 8.1%
• Crescent (Private debt): 7.3%
• Permira (Private debt): 9.6%

The draft annual report stated that the fund's top holdings in equities were: Microsoft, Nvidia Corp, Apple, Amazon, JP Morgan Chase & Co, Procter & Gamble, Netflix, Alphabet, SAP Ag Npv and Autozone Com.

The draft annual report stated that Islington has five funds (i.e. 53.1% of the whole fund) managed on the London CIV platform, and that the estimated fees saving for the year for pooling these four funds is £252,000.

The draft annual report stated that in 2025, London CIV enhanced its stewardship strategy by introducing a more streamlined approach, focusing on Human Rights and Wider Societal Impact, Climate Change, and Nature.

The draft annual report included a statement from Mercer, the fund's actuary, stating that at the 2022 actuarial valuation, the Fund's assets of £1,787 million represented 96% of the Fund's past service liabilities of £1,866 million. The valuation also showed that a Primary contribution rate of 18.4% of pensionable pay per annum was required from employers.

The draft annual report stated that in 2024/25:

• Employees' contributions totalled £17.6million
• Employers' contributions including deficit contributions amounted to £48.3million
• Pensions paid totalled £66.4million
• Investment management fees totalled £12.4million

Pension Administration Performance

The Pensions Board was scheduled to receive a report on the performance of the Pension Administration from 1 May 2025 to 31 July 2025.

The report pack stated that as of July 2025, the membership profile was:

• Active members: 7,192
• Deferred members: 8,578
• Pensioners: 7,108
• Teachers Compensation Pensions in payment: 98
• Spouses/dependants pensions in payment: 1,016
• Teachers Compensation Spouses Pensions in payment: 15
• Total: 24,007

The report pack stated that the Pensions Team had processed 830 key processes, achieving a performance of 80% within target days.

The report pack stated that 205 members were auto-enrolled into the LGPS between May and July 2025, with an opt-out rate of 10.24%.

The report pack stated that the Pension Office received 7 communications thanking Pension Administration staff for their service and 3 complaints.

The report pack stated that Islington Council participates in the Government's National Fraud Initiative (NFI), and that the Pensions Office will be reviewing the latest NFI report in September 2025.

The report pack stated that the pension portal was launched on 10 February for active members, and that at the time of writing 51% of corporate staff and 12% of schools support staff and admitted body members have registered on the portal.

The report pack included an update from the Scheme Advisory Board (SAB), including a survey to seek information from LGPS authorities on the diversity of representation within the Pension Committee and Boards, and views on peer support within the Scheme. The survey questions were attached as an appendix.

The report pack stated that the Pension's Office, working closely with Heywood's on the (ISP) implementation solution, have completed Phase 1 user acceptance testing of matching criteria and data reports for the Pensions Dashboard², and that Phase 2 is scheduled to start in September and is on track to be completed before the connection deadline of 31 October 2025. The report pack stated that the Pensions Risk Register was last reviewed at the end of May 2025 and no material changes have taken place in the proceeding months.

Pensions Board 2025/26 Forward Work Programme

The Pensions Board was scheduled to discuss its forward work programme for 2025/26. The forward work programme included agenda items for forthcoming meetings and training topics.

The draft programme and timetable attached included a standing item to each meeting on:

• Admin Performance report
• Forward work programme
• Review of last Pensions committee minutes
• Risk register
• Pension fund Performance

The draft programme and timetable attached included the following reports:

• Annual report (10th September 2025)
• Draft FSS consultation (16th December 2025)
• 3 yr Forecast Cashflow and 2025/26 Annual Cash Flow (24th March 2026)
• Draft pension accounts (16th June 2026)

The draft programme and timetable attached included the following training:

• Pensions Annual meeting- Town Hall (22nd September 2025)
• Actuarial review training (22nd September 2025)