Meeting documents

RESOLVED

That Mr John Chilver be elected Chairman of the Committee for the ensuing year.

As Mr Chilver was absent, the nomination and appointment of Vice-Chairman would be moved to item 1 of the next PFC meeting agenda. Mr Martin chaired the meeting in his absence.

Apologies were received from Mr Bagge, Mr Butcher and Mr Chilver.

Mr Hussain is no longer a Member of the Committee and has been replaced by Mr Bagge.

Ms Dobson stated that she was a Non-Executive Director for Aberdeen Standard Investments. Her company also has a hiring relationship with BlackRock Latin American Investment Trust which didn’t cause a conflict, but she wanted to make Committee aware of it.

To agree and note the minutes of the Pension Fund Board and Pension Fund Committee for March 2019.

The minutes of the Pension Fund Committee (PFC) meeting held on 18^th March 2019 were agreed. The Chairman informed the Committee that, due to the legal department restructure and services coming back in-house, the item ‘appointment of new adjudicator for LGPS’ would be likely to come back to the September Committee.

The Chairman welcomed Mr Mason, Chairman of the Pension Fund Board (PFB) and invited his comments. Mr Mason stressed that the PFB minutes were in draft form as they had not yet gone back for PFB approval. The Committee noted the minutes from the PFB held on 14^th March 2019.

The Chairman welcomed Mr Ball, representative of Grant Thornton.

The Committee were advised that the external audit plan had already been presented to the Regulatory and Audit Committee (RAC) on 4^th April 2019.

Mr Ball discussed key aspects of the audit and the areas of focus for 2019. Risks had been identified and where possible they had been rebutted. Where this hadn’t been possible presumed risks had been listed and addressed. No significant risk was thought to remain. They would audit all level 3 investments, predominantly private equity since there is a high degree of estimation uncertainty and they would also be auditing the transition of assets into Brunel, as this had been classed as an unusual transaction. It was expected that the audit would take 4-6 weeks, and findings would be presented at the PFC on 23^rd July and at the RAC on 30^th July.

In response to questioning, Mr Ball told the Committee that:

·       Grant Thornton would seek information for valuations directly from Brunel and additional work would be required to ensure the correct amounts were transferred to Brunel.

·       Grant Thornton hadn’t experienced the same negative consequences brought about by the downward pressure on fees or challenges which other supplier’s had been facing. They had been aware of what they were tendering for when they had tendered for the work and had no concerns about delivery or impacts on timing or quality of their work.

·       They were currently on target for auditing the accounts by 31^st July 2019.

·       Grant Thornton had updated their methodology and software, in line with other suppliers, to provide improved quality and to be closer aligned to auditing standards. Particular risks, which had been mentioned previously, may no longer be recorded under the new system and they had refined the way they communicated risks.

·       Councils had a statutory responsibility to allow elector questions about financial statements within a particular period. Draft accounts had been placed on the BCC website with clear instructions for the public to be able to raise concerns, so Grant Thornton had been satisfied that BCC had fulfilled its duties.

The Chairman thanked Mr Ball for his attendance.

RESOLVED:The Committee NOTED the audit plan

The Chairman welcomed Ms Edwards, Pensions and Investments Manager.

Ms Edwards informed the Committee that the draft statement of accounts had already been placed before the RAC on 21^st May 2019 and the final accounts would be coming back to the PFC on 23^rd July following the audit. She directed the Committee’s attention to the fact that the value of the pension fund had increased with a net return of £177 million in investments.  The pooled investment vehicles in the net assets statement had also increased following the transfer of some assets to the Brunel pool. Ms Edwards anticipated future savings due to economies of scale and the pooling of assets with Brunel. Ms Edwards told the Committee that p41 contained a reconciliation of the financial instruments total to the net investments, in the net assets statement. This had been requested by the Committee in the July 2018 meeting.

RESOLVED: The Committee NOTED the accounts and timings contained within the report

Ms Edwards updated the Committee about the topics which would be coming to future meetings

RESOLVED: The Committee NOTED the forward plan

To agree and note the confidential minutes of the Pension Fund Board and Pension Fund Committee for March 2019.

The next meeting will be held at 2pm on 23^rd July 2019 in Mezzanine 3, County Hall, Aylesbury.

The next Pension Fund Committee will be held on 23^rd July 2019 at 2pm, in Mezzanine 3, County Hall, Aylesbury.