The Lincolnshire Pension Committee met on Thursday, 19 March 2026, to discuss the pension fund's performance, administration, policies, and future business plans. Key decisions included the approval of the 2025 actuarial valuation report and the funding strategy statement, alongside a review of the pension administration strategy and the introduction of a new cyber security policy.

Pension Fund Update Report

The committee received an update on the Lincolnshire Pension Fund's performance for the quarter ending 31 December 2025. The Fund's invested assets increased by £109 million to £3,936.7 million. While all asset classes were within their strategic benchmark allocations, cash was overweight due to expected property drawdowns, and alternatives were underweight due to their performance relative to equities. The Fund's overall performance for the quarter underperformed its benchmark by 0.42%, and also lagged behind over one, three, and five-year periods. There were no material breaches of regulations reported, and the Fund successfully connected to the Pensions Dashboard. A new risk was added to the risk register concerning compliance with new regulations from the Pensions Schemes Bill and subsequent LGPS regulations. Updates were also provided on asset pooling activities with Border to Coast, including the integration of seven new partner funds.

Report by the Independent Chair of the Lincolnshire Local Pension Board

George Graham, the Independent Chair of the Lincolnshire Local Pension Board, presented an update on the board's activities. The board had focused on the performance of the administration service, the annual review of the Fund's policies, employer activity and performance, and data quality. They received a briefing on the development of the digital offer by West Yorkshire Pension Fund (WYPF) and were reassured about the prominence of Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) implications in the forthcoming business plan update. The board noted positive progress in closing bank accounts and discussed recruitment and training with WYPF, receiving assurance that changes in recruitment approaches were yielding positive results.

Pensions Administration Report

Matt Mott, Head of Governance and Business Development at West Yorkshire Pension Fund (WYPF), provided an update on current administration issues for the period 1 October to 31 December 2025. Several Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) were not met, primarily due to the team clearing a backlog of older cases, the manual processing of McCloud eligibility checks, and delays related to the Oracle-to-SQL migration. Recruitment for the shared service continued to be challenging, with 9 vacancies across the organisation, although a new recruitment round was planned. The shared service budget was projected to come in under forecast, largely due to staffing vacancies. A significant policy change was introduced regarding a death grant panel to formalise the process for making recommendations on death grant payments. The committee was informed that the Fund was live on the Pensions Dashboard, with data being loaded and testing underway. A new, more efficient member portal had been rebuilt and was being rolled out.

Lincolnshire Pension Fund Annual Policies Review

Jo Kempton, Head of Lincolnshire Pension Fund, presented the annual review of fund policies. The Pensions Administration Strategy had been updated to align KPIs with Scheme Advisory Board guidance and to reflect changes in employer responsibilities and administrative fines. This strategy was consulted on with employers, with minimal changes required. A new Cyber Security Policy was introduced, fulfilling a requirement of The Pensions Regulator's General Code of Practice. This policy was developed in collaboration with WYPF's IT department and Lincolnshire County Council's Cyber Security Team. Both the revised Pensions Administration Strategy and the new Cyber Security Policy had been reviewed and approved by the Pension Board.

Lincolnshire Pension Fund - Business Plan

Jo Kempton presented the Lincolnshire Pension Fund Business Plan for the years 2026-2029. The plan outlines the Fund's objectives across governance, investments, funding, administration, and communication. It includes statistics on the Fund's funding level and cash flow, details of resources and budget, a review of progress on tasks from the previous year's plan, and key tasks for the next three years. The plan also identifies key risks and mitigation strategies. Appendix B provided further detail on the three-year budget, which showed a projected underspend of £0.84 million for 2025/26, largely due to underspends in IT and employee salaries. The cost per member was projected to fall from £22.30 to £20.35.

Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26: Review of Accounting Arrangements and Accounting Policies, and Update from the External Auditor

Claire Machej, Accounting, Governance and Investment Manager, outlined the arrangements for the preparation of the Pension Fund's annual report and accounts for the year ending 31 March 2026. There were no changes to the annual report guidance or the Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting for 2025/26, meaning the documents would remain largely unchanged from the previous year. The accounting policies for the Pension Fund were also reviewed and remained unchanged. KPMG provided an unqualified opinion on the 2024/25 accounts and had prepared an early reflection on audit risks for the 2025/26 audit, flagging standard risks relating to management override of controls and the completeness, accuracy, and valuation of assets.

Whole Fund 2025 Valuation Report and Funding Strategy Statement

Claire Machej presented the actuarial valuation report as at 31 March 2025 and the Fund's final Funding Strategy Statement (FSS). The valuation revealed a surplus of £325 million, increasing the funding level to 110%, up from 101% at the 2022 valuation. Individual employer contribution rates were set for the period 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029, with all employers agreeing to their proposed rates. The FSS, which outlines the Fund's approach to achieving solvency and long-term cost efficiency, had been reviewed and consulted on with employers, with minimal feedback received. The committee was asked to approve both the valuation report and the FSS.

Consideration of Exempt Information

The committee moved to exclude the press and public from the meeting for the consideration of exempt information relating to Border to Coast corporate documents and cyber security training.

The meeting concluded with the committee moving to exempt information.