Agenda and minutes

The Members had before them:

A.    The Agenda papers (previously circulated); and

B.    The Minutes of the meeting held on 14 November 2019 (previously circulated).

Ms P Marsh for Ms T Fagan.

Apologies were received from Mr R W Banks, Ms T Fagan and Mr L C R Mallett.

Members of the public wishing to take part should notify the Democratic Governance and Scrutiny Manager (Interim Monitoring Officer) in writing or by e-mail indicating both the nature and content of their proposed participation no later than 9.00am on the working day before the meeting (in this case 2 March 2020).  Enquiries about this can be made through the telephone number/e-mail address listed below.

None.

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting held on 14 November 2019 (previously circulated).

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting held on 14 November 2020 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

RESOLVEDthat pursuant to Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public shall be excluded from the meeting during items 5 - 8 on the grounds that there would be disclosure to them of information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding the information) and the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Summary of the proceedings of the meeting during which the press and public were excluded.(This is a fair summary of the proceedings.)

The Sub-Committee considered the Pensions Independent Investment Advisor update together with the associated investment performance information.

The Sub-Committee received a presentation from Philip Hebson, Independent Advisor to the Fund.

RESOLVED: that

a)    the Pensions Independent Investment Advisor’s update attached as Appendix 1 to the report together with the associated investment performance information attached as Appendix 2 to the report be noted; and

b)   the changes to the Venn Commercial Real Estate Fund II investment detailed in Appendix 3 to the report be noted.

The Sub-Committee considered a report on the British Strategic Investment Fund.

The Sub-Committee received a presentation from Heather Fleming and Ed Simpson, representatives of Gresham House, specialists in asset management.

RESOLVED: that

a)    the presentation provided by Gresham House (specialist asset management) on the British Strategic Investment Fund (BSIF) detailed in the Appendix 2 to the report be noted;

b)   the due diligence that has been undertaken and detailed in Appendix 1 to the report be noted; and

c)    after due consideration of (a) and (b) above, Worcestershire Pension Fund invest between £30m and £50m in BSIF.

The Sub-Committee considered the Stonepeak Infrastructure Fund III Manager Quarterly review as at February 2020.

The Sub-Committee received a presentation from Brendan Woods, a representative of Stonepeak.

RESOLVED: that the Stonepeak Infrastructure Fund III Manager Quarterly review as at February 2020.

The Sub-Committee considered the River and Mercantile Equity Protection update and restructuring considerations for Worcestershire Pension Fund.

The Sub-Committee received a presentation from Masroor Ahmad, Mark Davies, and Jason Wood representatives of River and Mercantile.

In the ensuing debate, Michael Hudson indicated that the future of the Equity Protection Strategy was a decision for the Pensions Committee to take rather than this Sub-Committee. However, the potential restructuring of the existing strategy in place was still delegated to the Chief Financial Officer in consultation with the Chairman of the Pensions Committee.

RESOLVED: that

a)    the presentation provided by River and Mercantile on the Equity Protection Strategy detailed in the Appendix to the report be noted; and

b)    the determination of the appropriate form of restructuring of the existing Equity Protection Strategy was a matter for determination by the Pensions Committee.

The Sub-Committee noted the Corporate Bonds transition and the Strategic Asset Allocation Review update.

The Sub-Committee noted its work programme.