Pension Fund Annual Report & Accounts
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Pension Fund Annual Report & Accounts 2018/19 Front cover photo: Watersmeet, © Marija Lees P ENSION F UND A NNU A L R E P O R T & A CCOUNTS Contents Forward from the Chair of the Investment and Pension Fund Committee 4 Report of the County Treasurer 5 Market Commentary from the Independent Investment Advisor 11 Pension Board Annual Report 15 Investment Pooling – Brunel Pension Partnership 17 Cost Transparency 20 Knowledge and Skills 22 Risk Management 24 Stewardship and Engagement 29 Management of Fund 34 Managers’ Reports 36 Pension Fund Budget 48 Contributions by Employer 50 Peninsula Pensions Administration Report 53 Financial Statements: Statement of Responsibilities for the Statement of Accounts 63 Approval of the Statement of Accounts 63 Summary of Scheme and its Management 64 Financial Statements 68 Employing Bodies 103 Statement of the Fund Actuary 105 Audit Report 107 Additional Information: Investment Powers 111 Statutory Statements 112 The Fund’s Largest Equity Shareholdings 113 Scheme and Benefit Information 114 Glossary 116 Appendix A: Statutory Statements 119 3 P ENSION F UND A NNU A L R E P O R T & A CCOUNTS Forward from the Chair of the Investment and Pension Fund Committee This annual report sets out the activities of the pension fund for the year ending 31 March 2019. The workload for the Committee during the year has been focussed on planning the pooling of our investments as per Government requirements. We transitioned our first assets to Brunel, the company that we created along with 9 other LGPS funds, in July 2018. As part of the Brunel Oversight Board I have been involved in scrutinising the business plan of the company and ensuring that they are doing what is necessary to meet our requirements and deliver both savings and improved investment performance. The Committee has also reviewed the Fund’s investment strategy and approved a revised Investment Strategy Statement. We continue to monitor the performance of the Fund’s incumbent investment managers and the Fund’s performance returns, more details of those can be found in the following pages. In November 2018, we approved a revised Communications Strategy. In February 2019 Steve Tyson stood down as our Independent Investment Advisor to concentrate on his role as Non-Executive Director at Brunel. I would like to thank him for his advice to the Committee over the last five years. His position has been taken up by Anthony Fletcher, who has already established a good relationship with the Committee. I would like to thank my fellow committee and board members for their commitment and support over the last year. Finally, I would like to thank the officers for their efforts throughout the year in providing an excellent fund for the employers and their employees. Councillor Ray Bloxham Chairman, Investment and Pension Fund Committee Investment and Pension Fund Committee Attendance 2018/19 Name Date Appointed Date Resigned Meetings Attended Voting Members Cllr Ray Bloxham (Chairman) May 2018 4 (of 4) Cllr Yvonne Atkinson May 2017 4 (of 4) Cllr Alan Connett May 2017 1 (of 4) Cllr Christine Channon May 2016 Jan 2019 2 (of 3) Cllr Richard Edgell May 2009 3 (of 4) Cllr Richard Hosking May 2014 4 (of 4) Cllr Andrew Saywell Jan 2019 0 (of 1) Cllr Peter Edwards May 2003 0 (of 4) Cllr Lorraine Parker Delaz Ajete May 2014 4 (of 4) Cllr James O’Dwyer May 2015 4 (of 4) Donna Healy May 2015 3 (of 4) Non-Voting Members Colin Lomax May 2003 3 (of 4) Roberto Franceschini May 1986 3 (of 4) Jo Rimron May 2014 2 (of 4) 4 R E P O R T O F THE C OUNTY T R E A SU R E R Report of the County Treasurer Over the course of the 2018/19 year, the value of the Devon Pension Fund increased from £4.086 billion (as at 31 March 2018) to £4.302 billion as at 31 March 2019, an increase of around £216 million. The Devon Pension Fund’s investment return for the year, net of fees, was +5.6%. This was in line with actuarial assumptions but slightly below the Fund’s own strategic target of +6.2%. In the last three years the fund has achieved an annualised return of +9.1% which was ahead of the Fund’s benchmark and also ahead of the Actuary’s assumed investment return of +5.5%. The Fund’s maturing cashflow profile saw a shortfall of £26 million between the contributions received during the year and the benefit payments and management costs paid out. Over the last three years, the Devon Pension Fund has been working with nine other LGPS funds to set up the Brunel Pension Partnership Ltd in order to pool investment assets to reduce investment costs and improve risk management. The Fund’s passive equity assets transitioned across to Brunel in July, and the Fund has also invested in Brunel’s Low Volatility Equities portfolio and Infrastructure Portfolio. The Devon Pension Fund will continue to be responsible for deciding the strategic allocation between different asset classes to meet local investment objectives, but the Brunel Pension Partnership will be responsible for selection and monitoring of the external investment managers who will manage the investments. The pensions administration team continues to face increasing workloads and demands caused by an increase in membership and in the number of new employers joining the fund, requests for information and changes to regulations. During 2018/19, a restructure of Peninsula Pensions was undertaken to address these issues and to ensure that the administration function is best placed to continue to deliver the objectives of the Fund. Processes have been reviewed and improvements have been introduced which aim to drive out inefficiencies, increase capacity and improve the outcomes for our customers. The performance of the administration team has continued to improve during the restructure and it is anticipated that this trend will continue once the new processes have bedded in and we are fully resourced. During 2019/20 we will be consulting with employers in the development of our Pensions Administration Strategy which will set out the policies and performance standards of Peninsula Pensions. Summary of Financial Statements The financial statements and their purpose are summarised as follows: • Fund Account – The Fund Account sets out the Pension Fund’s income and expenditure for the year to 31 March 2019. The first section sets out the income received in contributions from employers and employees, and the expenditure on pension benefit payments. In the past income from contributions has exceeded the annual expenditure on benefit payments, resulting in a significant surplus to invest. This has not been the case over the last few years, and the gap between contributions received and benefits paid out will continue to grow. The second section of the Fund Account shows the income received from the Fund’s investments and the cost of managing those investments. The majority of investment income is retained by the external investment managers for re-investment, but income from property, infrastructure and private debt is returned as cash and can be used to offset any shortfall between contributions and benefit payments. The growing gap between contributions and pension benefit payments means that a larger proportion of investment income will now need to be used to meet the shortfall, rather than being reinvested. The Fund Account also shows that there has been an increase in the capital values of the Fund’s investment assets of £192 million over the last year. • Net Asset Statement – The Net Asset Statement sets out the net assets of the Fund, in line with the IFRS Based Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting in the United Kingdom (the Code) and the latest Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP). Pooled investments include pooled Equity, Fixed Interest, Property, Infrastructure and Private Debt Funds and they are incorporated into those categories in reviewing the Asset Allocation of the Fund in a later section of my report. 5 P ENSION F UND A NNU A L R E P O R T & A CCOUNTS Investment Performance As indicated above, the asset value of the Fund at the end of the 2018/19 financial year was £4.302 billion. This represents a positive investment return of +5.6% net of fees, slightly below the Fund’s internally set benchmark target of +6.2%. The three year return of 9.1%, reflecting the period since the last Actuarial Valuation, was ahead of benchmark, and also ahead of the Actuary’s assumed investment return at the 2016 Valuation of 5.5%. The year saw significant volatility, with the Fund experiencing a negative return of -6.7% in the quarter to December, which was then recovered in the quarter to March which saw a positive return of +7.1%. The main reason for the Fund’s below benchmark performance was the underperformance of the diversified growth funds. Both failed to achieve their cash plus benchmarks, and while it would not be expected that they would keep up with equities in a rising market, it is disappointing that they captured less of the upturn over the first 6 months of the financial year than they did of the downturn between October and December. Active global equities also underperformed, with the Specialist Funds’ bias towards Europe and the Emerging Markets detracting in a period where those regions did less well than other parts of the World, principally the US. Property, infrastructure and private debt all out performed their benchmarks. Pension fund investment management has to consider the long term, and the Investment and Pension Fund Committee’s principal aim for the Fund is therefore to maintain high performance over the longer term.