Agenda and draft minutes

The Chair will draw attention to the emergency evacuation procedure as set out under Note 5.

In the absence of Councillor Shaun Stephenson-McGall, Councillor Toby Simon informed the Panel that he had agreed to act as Chair for the duration of the meeting.

The 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 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 4.4 Appendix 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 Officeror a member of his staff before the meeting to expedite dealing with the item during the meeting.

Councillor Toby Simon declared an other interest in agenda item 8 (Local Impact Portfolio) as he has a personal investment in the Octopus Titan VCT.

Councillor Shaun Stephenson-McGall and Councillor Chris Dando had sent their apologies to the Panel.

There was none.

There were none.

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The Panel RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 4^th June 2025 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

The Panel, having been satisfied that the public interest would be better served by not disclosing relevant information, RESOLVED, in accordance with the provisions of the Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 that the public should be excluded from the meeting for this item of business, because of the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act as amended.

This paper reports on the performance of the individual portfolios and seeks to update the Panel on routine aspects of the Fund’s investments. The report contains performance statistics for periods ending 30 June 2025.

The Senior Investments Officer introduced the report to the Panel and highlighted the following points.

·  The Fund’s assets stood at £6,031m on 30 June 2025, delivering a net return of 3.7% over the quarter. This was 0.3% ahead of the return for the strategic benchmark. There were positive returns generated from the Brunel listed equity portfolios and the LDI portfolio, as gilt yields fell. Multi Asset Credit (MAC) and Diversifying Returns also contributed positively, although with the exception of MAC, the Brunel portfolios underperformed their respective benchmarks. Returns for the private markets portfolios were also positive, although performance verses benchmarks were mixed.

·  The estimated funding level stood at 106% at 30 June 2025 (c. £367m surplus).

·  Over 1 year to the end of June the Fund returned 3.4% in absolute terms and -2.5% in relative terms. The Brunel listed portfolios all delivered positive returns, however these fell short of their respective benchmarks contributing to underperformance over one year.

·  The second quarter of 2025 was marked by heightened volatility, as markets contended with renewed trade tensions and escalating geopolitical risks. The announcement of aggressive new tariffs by the U.S. administration in early April triggered a sharp sell-off, but sentiment stabilised following a temporary suspension of most measures to allow for trade negotiations.

·  Technology stocks were the standout performers, rebounding sharply as the pause in tariff implementation created a strong risk-on environment which was strengthened by better-than-expected earnings announcements and renewed enthusiasm for AI technologies among investors. In contrast, the healthcare and energy sectors lagged, weighed down by weak earnings and geopolitical disruptions.

·  At an individual portfolio level, the Brunel Global High Alpha portfolio returned 4.4%, lagged its benchmark return by 0.8% as weak stock selection in aggregate more than offset the benefits from sector allocation. Positive allocation was driven by underweights in energy and consumer staples. Selection was strong within IT where the underweight in Apple and overweight in TSMC were the largest contributors, with the latter benefitting from renewed AI-related demand.

·  The FTSE Developed Paris Aligned Index (PAB) returned 4.9% over the quarter, closely replicating the performance of the benchmark index over the period. Although the index has a positive tilt towards growth and an overweight allocation to technology stocks, returns were held back by weak stock selection in the technology sector. The majority of this is attributable to underweight positions in Nvidia and Broadcom. The portfolio did benefit from an underweight towards the energy sector which was the weakest performing sector given the fall in oil prices over the quarter.

The Panel, having been satisfied that the public interest would be better served by not disclosing relevant information, RESOLVED, in accordance with the provisions of the Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 that the public should be excluded from the meeting for this item of business, because of the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act as amended.

The Panel RESOLVED to note the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 67.

The Panel, having been satisfied that the public interest would be better served by not disclosing relevant information, RESOLVED, in accordance with the provisions of the Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 that the public should be excluded from the meeting for this item of business, because of the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act as amended.

The Panel, having been satisfied that the public interest would be better served by not disclosing relevant information, RESOLVED, in accordance with the provisions of the Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 that the public should be excluded from the meeting for this item of business, because of the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act as amended.

The Funding and Risk Management Group (FRMG) is responsible for agreeing the operational aspects relating to the Fund’s Risk Management Framework (RMF) thereby ensuring that strategic objectives continue to be met.

The Senior Investments Officer introduced the report to the Panel and highlighted the following points.

·  The underlying equity benchmark rose 4.7% over the quarter, with the equity protection strategy (EPS) detracting 1.9% from the net equity performance. Since inception the dynamic EPS has detracted c. 2.5% from equity returns and reduced volatility by c. 24%.

·  At quarter end, the interest rate hedge ratio stood at 28% and the inflation hedge ratio was around 15%. The yield trigger framework for implementing hedging at attractive levels has been discontinued ahead of adopting a long-term strategic hedge ratio target.

The Panel, having been satisfied that the public interest would be better served by not disclosing relevant information, RESOLVED, in accordance with the provisions of the Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 that the public should be excluded from the meeting for this item of business, because of the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act as amended.

The Panel RESOLVED to note the performance of each of the underlying RMF strategies and current collateral position as set out in Exempt Appendix 1.

This report sets out the forward agenda for the Panel for 2025/26. It is provisional as the Panel will respond to issues as they arise and as work is delegated from the Committee.

The Group Manager for Funding, Investment & Risk introduced the report to the Panel.

She explained that pooling arrangements would dominate the work focus of the investments team for the remainder of the year and therefore the Panel’s focus would be on monitoring performance and considering pooling issues related to the investment strategy if required.

Jackie Peel asked if meeting dates for 2026 for the Panel could be circulated.

The Panel RESOLVED to note their forward agenda.