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Contact information

E-mail

customer.service@shropshire.gov.uk

Telephone

0345 678 9000

Postal Address

Shropshire Council
Shirehall
Abbey Foregate
Shrewsbury
Shropshire
SY2 6ND

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Shrewsbury Room, Shirehall, Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY2 6ND

Contact: Sarah Townsend  Committee Officer

Items
No. Item

20.

Apologies for Absence and Substitutions

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Anne Chebsey and Councillor Malcolm Smith.

 

Councillor Roger Evans substituted for Councillor Anne Chebsey and Councillor Rob Sloan substituted for Councillor Malcolm Smith.

 

21.

Disclosable Pecuniary Interests

Members are reminded that they must not participate in the discussion or voting on any matter in which they have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest and should leave the room prior to the commencement of the debate.

Minutes:

Members were reminded that they must not participate in the discussion or voting on any matter in which they had a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest and should leave the room prior to the commencement of the debate.

 

22.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 71 KB

The Minutes of the meeting held on 20 June 2014 are attached for confirmation, marked 3.

 

Contact:  Sarah Townsend (01743) 252803

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 20 June 2014 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

 

23.

Public Questions

Minutes:

There were no public questions.

 

24.

Harris Associates (Global Equities)

Mr Tony Coniaris and Mr Euan Maclaren will give a presentation.

Minutes:

Mr Tony Coniaris and Mr Euan Maclaren gave a presentation on the performance of their Global Equity Strategy.

 

Members were firstly provided with an organisational overview and it was reported that an International Investment Analyst had joined the company during 2014.  They were then reminded of the three key tenets of Harris Associates investment philosophy with their value proposition focusing on the combination of price and quality.

 

A review of performance was undertaken and Members were taken through the ten largest and smallest contributors between 30 September 2013 and 30 June 2014.

 

25.

Investec Asset Management (Global Equities)

Mr James Hand and Mr Stephen Lee will give a presentation.

Minutes:

Mr Stephen Lee and Mr Ian Vose gave a presentation on the performance of the Investec Global Dynamic Fund.

 

Members were informed that since the inception of the Fund on 30 September 2013, it had outperformed its comparative index MSCI ACWI (All Country World Index) by 1.8%.

 

Members were advised on the process of how investment decisions were taken and implemented in order to determine which stocks to hold within the portfolio.

 

Recent significant purchases and sales transactions together with a review of the future outlook were also reported on.

 

26.

PIMCO Europe Limited (Global Bonds)

Mr Edward Berry and Mr Ben Edwards will give a presentation.

Minutes:

Mr Edward Berry and Mr Ben Edwards gave a presentation on the performance of their two portfolio funds in which they invest on behalf of Shropshire County Pension Fund.

 

The blended performance of these two funds had consistently outperformed their benchmark indices since inception and to 30 June 2014, exceeded them by 2.16%.

 

A more detailed review of the two funds was given and Members were advised that there had been no change to PIMCO’s investment process and philosophy.

 

27.

Internal Audit Outturn Report for Shropshire County Pension Fund 2013/14 pdf icon PDF 123 KB

The report of the Audit Service Manager is attached, marked 8.

 

Contact:  Ceri Pilawski (01743 252027)

Minutes:

The Committee received the report of the Audit Service Manager (copy attached to the signed Minutes) which provided Members with details of the work undertaken by Internal Audit for the year ended 31 March 2014. 

 

It was reported that final performance had been good with 100% of the annual audit plan being delivered.  All assurances given were categorised as ‘Good’ and a total of 19 recommendations had been made in the five audit reports related to the year.  One ‘significant’ recommendation was made in the Altair Pension Application Audit and the remaining recommendations were rated as requiring attention or best practice.

 

It was reported that on the basis of the work undertaken and management responses received, the Pension Fund’s financial systems, internal control environment, governance framework and risk management procedures were sound and working effectively.  The Audit Service Manager was therefore able to deliver a positive year end opinion on the Fund’s internal control environment for 2013/14.

 

RESOLVED:

(a)     That performance against the Audit Plan for the year ended 31 March 2014 be endorsed.

 

(b)     That the Audit Service Manager’s positive year end opinion on the Fund’s internal control environment for 2013/14 on the basis of the work undertaken and management responses received be endorsed.

 

28.

Grant Thornton - The Audit Findings Report for Shropshire County Pension Fund 2013/14 pdf icon PDF 265 KB

The report of Grant Thornton is attached, marked 9.

 

Contact:  Grant Patterson (0121 232 5296) or Ashley Wilson (0121 232 5430)

Minutes:

The Committee received the report of the External Auditor, Grant Thornton, (copy attached to the signed Minutes) which highlighted the key issues arising from the audit of Shropshire County Pension Fund’s financial statements and Annual Report for the year ending 31 March 2014.

 

Mr Grant Patterson was in attendance and advised the meeting that it was proposed that an unqualified opinion on the Fund’s financial statements should be issued and that the key messages arising from the audit were:

 

·         That the draft and final version of the financial statements recorded net assets carried forward of £1,339,203,000 and that no material adjustments affecting the Fund’s net assets position had been identified; and

·         That a number of minor adjustments to the notes to the financial statements had been agreed with Officers.

 

Mr Patterson informed the meeting that two non-trivial adjustments that net to £0.4m had been identified in respect of discrepancies between the values of investments reported by the custodian and fund managers in respect of HarbourVest Private Equity investments and Aberdeen Asset Management but that Officers were not proposing to amend the 2013/14 financial statements.

 

It was reported that there was a typing error on page 20 of the report (page 38 of the actual agenda) and that the total audit fees were £21,433 and not £22,430 as stated.

 

RESOLVED:

(a)   That the content of the report of the External Auditor, Grant Thornton, be noted.

 

(b)   That the management’s proposed treatment of the two non-trivial adjustments be approved.

 

(c)    That the signing of the Letter of Representation be approved.

 

29.

Pension Fund Annual Accounts 2013/14 pdf icon PDF 56 KB

The report of the Head of Finance, Governance & Assurance is attached, marked 10.

 

Contact:  James Walton (01743 255901)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received the report of the Head of Finance, Governance and Assurance (copy attached to the signed Minutes) which provided Members with the Shropshire County Pension Fund Annual Report 2013/14 and an update on the annual audit.

 

RESOLVED: 

That the Pension Fund Annual Report 2013/14 be approved.

 

30.

Corporate Governance Monitoring pdf icon PDF 98 KB

The report of the Head of Treasury & Pensions is attached, marked 11.

 

Contact:  Justin Bridges (01743 252072)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received the report of the Head of Treasury and Pensions (copy attached to the signed minutes) which informed Members of Corporate Governance and socially responsible investment issues arising in the quarter 01 April 2014 to 30 June 2014.

 

RESOLVED:

That the position as set out in the report, Manager Voting Reports (Appendix A) and F&C Responsible Engagement Overlay Activity Report (Appendix B) be accepted.

 

31.

Pensions Administration Monitoring pdf icon PDF 52 KB

The report of the Pension Administration Manager is attached, marked 12.

 

Contact:  Debbie Sharp (01743 252192)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received the report of the Pension Administration Manager (copy attached to the signed Minutes) which provided Members with monitoring information on the performance of and issues affecting the Pensions Administration Team.

 

RESOLVED:

That the position as set out in the report be accepted.

 

32.

Creation of New Pension Board pdf icon PDF 89 KB

The report of the Head of Finance, Governance & Assurance is attached, marked 13.

 

Contact:  James Walton (01743 255901)

Minutes:

The Committee received the report of the Head of Finance, Governance and Assurance (copy attached to the signed Minutes) which provided an update on the introduction of a Pension Board under the requirements of the Public Service Pensions Act 2013 including information relating to the draft Local Government Pension Scheme governance regulations.

 

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the report be noted and in particular:

 

(a)   The content of the draft Local Government Pension Scheme governance regulations.

(b)   The progress made by the Task and Finish Group in implementing the changes for the Shropshire County Pension Fund.    

 

33.

Exclusion of Press and Public

To consider a resolution under paragraph 10.2 of the Council’s Access to Information Procedure Rules that the proceedings of the Committee in relation to Agenda Items 15 to 17 shall not be conducted in public on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined by the categories specified against them.

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

That under paragraph 10.2 of the Council’s Access to Information Procedure Rules, the proceedings of the Committee in relation to the following items,should not be conducted in public on the grounds that they might involve the likely disclosure of exempt informationas defined by the category specified against them.

 

34.

Exempt Minutes

The Exempt Minutes of the meeting held on 20 June 2014 are attached for confirmation, marked 15.

 

Contact:  Sarah Townsend (01743 252803)

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

That the Exempt Minutes of the meeting held on 20 June 2014 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

 

35.

New Admission Bodies (Exempted by Category 3)

The report of the Pension Administration Manager is attached, marked 16.

 

Contact:  Debbie Sharp (01743 252192)

Minutes:

The Committee received the exempt report of the Pension Administration Manager (copy attached to the Exempt signed Minutes) which provided Members with details regarding an admission under Schedule 2 Part 3 Regulation 1(d)(i) of the Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations 2013, due to services transferring from a Scheme Employer, under a service contract.

 

RESOLVED:

That the recommendation in the exempt report be approved.

 

36.

Investment Monitoring - Quarter to 30 June 2014 (Exempted by Category 3)

The report of the Head of Treasury & Pensions is attached, marked 17.

 

Contact:  Justin Bridges (01743 252072)

Minutes:

The Committee received the exempt report of the Head of Treasury and Pensions (copy attached to the Exempt signed Minutes) which provided Members with monitoring information on investment performance and managers for the quarter period to 30 June 2014, and reported on the technical meetings held with managers since the quarter end.

 

RESOLVED:

That the position as set out in the exempt report be noted.

 

 

 

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