Agenda and minutes

The Senior Democratic Services Officer drew attention to the emergency evacuation procedure.

At this point in the meeting declarations of interest are received from Members in any of the agenda items under consideration at the meeting. Members are asked to complete the green interest forms circulated to groups in their pre-meetings (which will be announced at the Council Meeting) to indicate:

(a) The agenda item number in which they have an interest to declare.

(b) The nature of their interest.

(c) Whether their interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an other interest,  (as defined in Part 2, A and B of the Code of Conduct and Rules for Registration of Interests)

Any Member who needs to clarify any matters relating to the declaration of interests is recommended to seek advice from the Council’s Monitoring Officer or a member of his staff before the meeting to expedite dealing with the item during the meeting.

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The Chair stated that this would be the last meeting of the Panel to be attended by John Finch. On behalf of the Panel, he extended his thanks to John for his past services and advice.

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The Minutes of the previous meeting held on 21^st November 2014 were approved as a correct record and were signed by the Chair.

The Panel considered a report on the performance of the Fund’s Investment Managers for the period ending 31^st December 2014 and updated the Panel on routine aspects of the Fund’s investments.

The Investments Manager outlined the report. Members discussed the performance monitoring report by JLT (Appendix 2). John Finch stated that there was significant volatility in UK Gilts – there had been a collapse in commodity prices and the Frontier Markets were down in the last quarter. However, the Equity Markets remained positive and good returns were expected after the Quarter. He commented generally on world markets and the healthy UK economic growth although there was concern about the Euro.

He continued by reporting on the performance of managers stating that 10 of the 18 managers had outperformed over the Quarter and 14 out of 16 over the 3 year period. Schroders had made some changes and had outperformed in the last Quarter. He drew attention to some managers not meeting their 3 year targets including Partners. The Investments Manager suggested that this was partially due to the impact of the Foreign Exchange. In addition, the figures calculated by WM use a time weighted return to measure return and this is not so appropriate for investments in closed funds. Consideration may need to be given to setting an appropriate benchmark to monitor Partners.

The Investments Manager commented that Pyrford had made a poor start in 2014 but had improved in the last Quarter. The Chairman stated it should be recorded that the Panel had received a presentation by representatives of Schroders Global Equity portfolio team, namely, Simon Webber, Alex Tedder and Lyndon Bolton. It was apparent that the influence of Alex Tedder had produced a more consistent performance and had strengthened the team. The Panel requested that Officers monitor their performance closely to ensure performance continued to improve and any areas of concern reported to the Panel as a matter of priority.

RESOLVED (1) to note the information set out in the report; and (2) identified issues to be notified to the Avon Pension Fund Committee.

The Investments Manager circulated an updated Workplan, which was discussed by the Panel.

RESOLVED to note (1) the Workplan; and (2) the proposed manager meeting schedule for the Panel.