Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Adje.

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of urgent business. Late items will be considered under the agenda item where they appear. New items will be considered under agenda item 7 for unrestricted items, and item 11 for exempt items.

There were no items of urgent business.

A member with a personal interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered must disclose to that meeting the existence and nature of that interest at the commencement of that consideration, or when the interest becomes apparent.

A member with a personal interest in a matter also has a prejudicial interest in that matter if the interest is one which a member of the public with knowledge of the relevant facts would reasonably regard as so significant that it is likely to prejudice the member’s judgement of the public interest and if this interest affects their financial position or the financial position of a person or body as described in paragraph 8 of the Code of Conduct and/or if it relates to the determining of any approval, consent, license, permission or registration in relation to them or any person or body described in paragraph 8 of the Code of Conduct.

Cllr Watson declared a personal interest as a deferred member of the Haringey Pension Scheme.

Michael Jones declared a personal interest as a pensioner member of the Haringey Pension Scheme.

Cllr Wilson declared a personal interest as an employee of the National Association of Pension Funds.

Cllr Jenks declared a personal interest as a current member of the Haringey Pension Scheme. Cllr Jenks also declared a personal interest as a member of the Friends of Cooperscroft, a care home owned by TLC Group Ltd, one of the scheduled and admitted bodies of the Fund.

Roger Melling declared a personal interest as a pensioner member of the Haringey Pension Scheme.

To confirm the unrestricted minutes of the meeting of the Pensions Committee held on 1 November 2010.

RESOLVED

That the unrestricted minutes of the meeting of the Pensions Committee held on 1 November 2010 be approved and signed by the Chair.

Report of the Director of Corporate Resources to consider the latest investment performance data for the Pension Fund and for each of the Fund’s investment managers, to report on key responsible investment issues using data provided by the Fund Managers and LAPFF, to report on budget monitoring against the Pension Fund budget and to report on late payment of contributions to the Pension Fund.

The Committee considered a report on the performance data for the Pension Fund and the Fund’s investment managers, key responsible investment issues using information provided by the Fund Managers and the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF), budget monitoring against the Pension Fund budget and late payment of contributions.

In response to a suggestion from the Committee, it was agreed that responsible investment issues should also be monitored in respect of Legal and General in future reports. It was noted that further to the production of the report, the situation with regards to late payments had improved since letters to address this issue had been sent out.

RESOLVED

i)                    That the Fund performance position as at end of September 2010 be noted.

ii)                  That the responsible investments information provided be noted.

iii)                That the pension fund budget monitoring position be noted.

iv)                That the late payments of contributions be noted.

Report of the Director of Corporate Resources to present the recommended assumptions and whole fund level results of the actuarial valuation undertaken as at 31^st March 2010.

Bryan Chalmers, the Fund’s Actuary, presented the summary of the results of the 2010 Actuarial Valuation of the Fund to the Committee, covering events since 2007, the proposed approach for 2010, assumptions, initial results and conclusions. Mr Chalmers then answered questions from the Committee.

In response to a question from the Committee regarding the basis on which the 6.1% investment return assumption was made, Mr Chalmers reported that this incorporated an assumed 6.5% equity return, on the basis on a 2% equity risk premium. Mr Chalmers reported that a best assumption would be a 3% equity risk premium, which would lead to a 7.5% return. The Committee noted that when cross-referencing the reports of Hymans Robertson and Aon Hewitt it was important to ensure that the figures were comparable; based on the information provided by the actuary, it was suggested that the higher return assumption of 7.5% should be used for comparison purposes with the report provided by Aon Hewitt.

RESOLVED

That the content of the report be noted and the assumptions set out by the Fund’s actuary in his report for the 2010 valuation be agreed.

There were no new items of unrestricted urgent business.

The following items are likely to be the subject of a motion to exclude the press and public from the meeting as they contain exempt information as defined in Section 100a of the Local Government Act 1972; namely information relating to the business or financial affairs of any particular person (including the Authority holding that information).

RESOLVED

That the press and public be excluded for the remainder of the meeting.

To confirm the exempt minutes of the meeting of the Pensions Committee held on 1 November 2010.

RESOLVED

That the exempt minutes of the meeting held on 1 November 2010 be approved and signed by the Chair.

TO FOLLOW

The Committee discussed the report presented by Aon Hewitt.

RESOLVED

That the content of the report be noted.

There were no new items of exempt urgent business.

Tuesday, 22 February 2011, 7pm.

Tuesday, 22 February, 2011.