35.1  Charles Iversen from Aon Hewitt gave a presentation on the Shropshire County Pension Fund - copy of presentation attached to the signed Minutes - which covered the following areas:

·                High Level Structure;

·                Investment Strategy approach;

·                Overview of the investments and main asset classes;

·                Recent changes to strategy;

·                Fund manager oversight;

·                Equity protection strategy

·                Brexit positioning and macroeconomic outlook;

·                Other questions; and

·                Future challenges.

35.2  In response to a query, it was confirmed that it was the individual fund managers appointed by the Pensions Committee who made the day to day investment decisions about eg which stocks to choose.  The Committee’s role was about managing risk and setting the strategy in the long term and so it made decisions at a strategic level.  The Head of Treasury and Pensions explained that the Committee looked at the long-term performance of the fund managers, typically three to five years.  It was confirmed that in future the Committee would not appoint fund managers as they would be appointed by the Central Fund.  In response to a query it was explained that Roger Bartley was independent and provided challenge to Aon and the fund managers.

35.3  In response to queries about whether the Committee could decide not to invest in the Central Fund and whether it would have the ability to withdraw funds from a particular manager, the Section 151 Officer explained the process.  He informed the Board that the Committee would have a level on influence on LGPS Central as a member and one of eight equal partners.  The Head of Treasury and Pensions went on to explain the governance structure of LGPS Central.