Meeting documents

To consider the report of the Chief Financial officer.  This includes Strategic Fund Allocation for the period ending 30 September 2017, cash flow and performance analysis and other topical issues.

The Committee considered a report by the Pension Fund Administrator on the asset allocation, valuation and overall performance of the Fund’s assets up to 30 September 2017.  Officers confirmed the format of the report had been changed to include performance on all managers as resolved at the last meeting of the Committee in September 2017, and any feedback was welcomed.

Officers highlighted that absolute and relative returns from the Fund’s two private equity managers and one of the Fund’s infrastructure managers had been adversely affected by the appreciation of sterling over the quarter.  Members asked that officers review the reported benchmarks and targets of all external investment managers to ensure their appropriateness for assessing manager performance.  Members also identified a need for further understanding of the performance of the underlying investments made through the Fund’s private equity managers.

Officers reported that the legal agreement with CQS, the Fund’s recently appointed Multi Asset Credit (MAC) manager was close to finalisation, with investment on target for 1 December 2017.  Members were also informed that the majority of the Fund’s external investment managers had now ‘opted up’ the administering authority from retail to elected professional status under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) II, ahead of the 3 January 2018 deadline.

Resolved

1.         That the benchmarks and targets of all external investment managers be reviewed and amended if necessary.

2.         That the reporting of underlying investments made through the Fund’s external private equity managers be reviewed and amended if necessary.