Issue - meetings

Report FSD18059

Members received the annual report and accounts of the L B Bromley Pension Fund for year ending 31^st March 2018 which the Council is required to publish under the Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations 2013. The annual report included the following documents requiring the Sub-Committee’s approval: 

·  Governance Policy Statement

·  Funding Strategy Statement

·  Investment Strategy Statement

·  Communications Policy Statement.

The annual report had been audited by the Fund’s external auditor, KPMG LLP and included a draft statement from KPMG. The Council would publish the Annual Report on its website by 1^st December 2018.

The Bromley Pension Fund had total net assets of £967.0m as at 31^st March 2018 (£913.4m as at 31^st March 2017). The Fund outperformed its benchmark by 3.6% over the year (+6.1% against a benchmark return of +3.1%). Performance compared to the 61 LGPS funds in the PIRC local authority universe (average return of +4.5%) was excellent, ranking in the 3^rd percentile for the year. Rankings over the medium and long term were also excellent – first over three years and over ten years, and second over five years, 20 years and 30 years to March 2018.

Total membership of the fund increased from 16,404 at 31^st March 2017 to 16,920 at 31^st March 2018 when it comprised 6,198 employees, 5,185 pensioners and 5,537 deferred members. Payments into the Fund from contributions (employee and employer), transfers in, and investment income totalled £41.6m in 2017/18 (£44.9m in 2016/17) and payments from the Fund for pensions, lump sums, transfers out and administration totalled £40.9m (£71.0m in 2016/17). The large reduction in the value of payments made during 2017/18 is mainly the result of the group transfers out of Bromley College and GS Plus during 2016/17.

The accounts had been audited by KPMG and were made available in draft form on the Council’s website before the end of May 2018. KPMG anticipated issuing an unqualified audit opinion on the financial statements of the Pension Fund and a draft statement to that effect was included in the Annual Report. (Democratic Services note: the final opinion, issued after the meeting, was unchanged from the draft included in the Annual Report.)

In discussion it was highlighted that there were only four investment managers in the second paragraph under “Investment Managers” at page 13 of the Annual Report (of the year to 31^st March 2018), and that Schroders had been appointed since then.

RESOLVED that:

(1)  the Pension Fund Annual Report 2017/18 be noted and approved;

(2)  the Governance Policy Statement, Funding Strategy Statement, Investment Strategy Statement, and Communications Policy Statement, as outlined at paragraph 3.2 of Report FSD18059, be approved; and

(3) arrangements be made to ensure publication by the statutory deadline of 1^st December 2018.