Archived decisions
AT A MEETING of the PENSION FUND PANEL held at The Castle, Winchester on Friday 12 May 2006.
PRESENT:
p Councillor T.K. Thornber (Chairman)
p Councillor M.F. Cartwright (Vice-Chairman)
Councillors:
p F.G. Allgood p M.N. Kemp-Gee
p B.D. Dash p A.R. Ludlow
p A.G. Dowden p J.J.W. Maxwell
p P.R.C. Hutcheson
Co-opted members:
a Councillor I.R. Carr (Test Valley Borough Council)
p Mr E.W. Hughes (pensioners' representative)
p Mr D. Offord (contributors' representative)
Independent adviser:
p Mr H. Cole.
72 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies for absence were received from Councillor I.R. Carr.
73 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Members were mindful that, where they believed they had a personal or prejudicial interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting, they should, normally at the time of the debate, declare their interest and, having regard to the circumstances described in paragraphs 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the County Council's Code of Conduct, consider whether to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed.
74 CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS
No Chairman's communications were received.
75 DEPUTATIONS
No deputations were received.
76 MINUTES
The Minutes of the meeting held on 14 December 2005 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.
Matters arising thereon:
Options for New Investment Management Structure from October 2006 (Confidential) (Minute 71)
The County Treasurer reported that a large number of investment management firms had applied for inclusion on the Fund's tender list. To enable due diligence to be applied to investigating all these firms, the target date for implementing the new arrangements would be deferred from 1 October 2006. Arrangements would be made for the Panel to meet to consider the shortlisted firms in September 2006.
77 APPOINTMENT OF PENSIONER AND EMPLOYEE REPRESENTATIVES AND REPLACEMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE OF PORTSMOUTH AND SOUTHAMPTON CITY COUNCILS
The Panel considered a report of the County Treasurer (Item 6 in the Minute Book) on the appointments of the pensioner, the employee representative and the deputy employee representative which expired on 31 March 2006. It had been intended that new applications should be invited for these positions. It was considered, however, that the existing representatives' experience would be very valuable during the current review of the Fund's investment management arrangements.
The County Treasurer also reported that Councillor Tom Blair, the representative of Portsmouth and Southampton City Councils, had not been re-elected to Portsmouth City Council in the elections on 4 May 2006 and, as a result, was unable to continue his role on the Panel. The County Treasurer had asked the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Local Government Association to liaise with the City Councils to nominate a replacement for Councillor Blair as soon as possible.
RESOLVED:
(i) That the appointment of Derek Offord as employee representative be extended until 31 March 2007
(ii) That the appointment of E.W. Hughes as pensioner representative be extended until 31 March 2007
(iii) That the appointment of Phillip Reynolds as deputy employee representative be extended until 31 March 2007
(iv) That the County Treasurer be given the delegated power to carry out a full review of all three appointments following the finalisation of the Fund's new investment management arrangements, and report back with recommendations to the Panel's business meeting on 17 November 2006
(v) That the County Treasurer's action in asking the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Local Government Association to nominate a new representative of Portsmouth and Southampton City Councils as a replacement for Councillor Tom Blair be endorsed.
(vi) That the County Treasurer write to Councillor Tom Blair to express the Panel's gratitude for his contribution to the Panel's work.
78 ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL BACKGROUND
The Panel considered a report of the Panel's adviser, Mr Harvey Cole, (Item 7 in the Minute Book) on the economic and financial background and the possible implications for the Panel's investment strategy. The Panel used the paper to question the fund managers.
RESOLVED:
That the report be received and noted.
79 EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC
RESOLVED:
That the public be excluded from the meeting during the following item of business, as it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public were present during that item there would be disclosure to them of exempt information within Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, and further that in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, for the reasons set out in the report
80 MANAGERS INVESTMENT POLICIES AND PERFORMANCE (EXEMPT)
The Panel considered an exempt report of the County Treasurer (Item 9 in the Minute Book) summarising the fund managers' portfolios, their investment actions taken and performance returns over periods to 31 March 2006. The County Treasurer reported on changes in the managers' personnel working on the Fund's portfolios. The Panel received presentations from each of the fund managers and used the report to question the managers about their actions and performance.
[SUMMARY OF A MINUTE WHICH CONTAINS EXEMPT INFORMATION]