Here is a summary of the scheduled discussions for the Pensions and Investments Committee meeting.

The Pensions and Investments Committee was scheduled to discuss the fund's investments, stewardship activities, and risk register, as well as a consultation on access and fairness in the Local Government Pension Scheme. The committee was scheduled to consider reports from the Director of Finance and external advisors, focusing on asset allocation, investment performance, and responsible investment.

Here are the main topics that were in the report pack for discussion:

Investments Report

The committee was scheduled to review the Derbyshire Pension Fund's asset allocation and investment activity since the last meeting, as detailed in the Investments Report. The report included a recommendation from the Director of Finance and the fund's external advisor, Mr Fletcher of Apex Investment Advisers Limited, regarding the fund's investment strategy and asset allocation.

According to the report pack, on 31 May 2025, the fund's investment assets totalled £6,791.5m. The report pack stated that the Intermediate Benchmark became effective on 1 April 2024, and the Final Benchmark was scheduled to become effective on 1 April 2025 but because of heightened market volatility, Director of Finance approval was received to extend the effective date to 1 July 2025.

The report pack included a table that showed the fund's asset allocation, benchmark, and recommendations, and it categorised assets into:

• Growth Assets
• Income Assets
• Protection Assets

The report pack stated that the fund was overweight Protection Assets and Cash, and underweight Growth Assets and Income Assets. It also noted that the fund had outstanding commitments to Private Equity, Infrastructure, Multi-Asset Credit and Property, which totalled around £488m.

The report pack stated that Mr Fletcher continued to recommend a 1.0% underweight allocation to Growth Assets, and that the IIMT also recommended maintaining a relatively cautious stance to Growth Assets, locking in some of the strong performance achieved over the last twelve months, which has further stretched valuations.

The report pack stated that Mr Fletcher recommended a 1.0% overweight allocation to UK Equities, and that the IIMT recommended a 2.0% overweight allocation to UK Equities.

The report pack stated that both Mr Fletcher and the IIMT recommended a neutral allocation of zero to Japanese Equities and Emerging Market Equities.

The report pack stated that Mr Fletcher continued to recommend a 2.0% underweight allocation to Global Sustainable Equities, and that the IIMT recommended a 1.5% underweight allocation to Global Sustainable Equities.

The report pack stated that Mr Fletcher recommended a neutral weighting of 6.0% in Private Equity, and that the IIMT recommended maintaining the Fund's Private Equity at 5.0%.

The report pack stated that Mr Fletcher has maintained his 7.0% neutral allocation to Multi-Asset Credit, and that the IIMT recommended that the current allocation of 8.1% is maintained.

The report pack stated that Mr Fletcher recommends a neutral Property allocation of 10.0%, and that the IIMT recommends a 8.0% overall weighting to the asset class.

The report pack stated that Mr Fletcher recommends a neutral weighting of 13% relative to the Final Benchmark for Infrastructure, and that the IIMT recommends maintaining the invested weight at 10.9%.

The report pack stated that Mr Fletcher has retained his recommended weighting in UK Conventional Bonds at 6.0%, and that the IIMT recommends a 0.5% overweight allocation of 6.5%.

The report pack stated that Mr Fletcher has maintained his 6.0% (neutral) allocation to Index-Linked Bonds, and that the IIMT recommends a 0.5% overweight allocation of 6.5%.

The report pack stated that Mr Fletcher has maintained his 6.0% (neutral) allocation to Corporate Bonds, and that the IIMT recommends that the Fund increases its current allocation from 6.2% to 6.5%.

The report pack stated that Mr Fletcher has maintained his recommended 3.0% weighting in Cash, and that the IIMT recommends a relatively defensive cash allocation of 4.0%.

Stewardship Report

The committee was scheduled to receive an overview of stewardship activity undertaken by LGPS Central Limited and Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM). The report pack included the following reports:

• Q4 2024-25 LGPSC Stewardship Update
• 2024 LGPSC Annual Stewardship Report
• Q1 2025 LGIM Quarterly Engagement Report

According to the report pack, LGPSC currently manages around £1.4bn of assets on behalf of the fund through various sub-funds and private equity funds. Since 2 January 2025, LGPSC has also taken over the oversight of the fund's LGIM arrangements, which currently manages around £2.2bn of assets on behalf of the fund through passive products.

The Q4 2024-25 LGPSC Stewardship Update included a summary of engagement and voting activities, key stewardship developments, and case studies. Key stewardship developments included navigating geopolitical uncertainty related to tariffs and the 2025 proxy season.

The 2024 LGPSC Annual Stewardship Report provided an overview of LGPSC's approach to responsible investment and stewardship, including its purpose and governance, investment approach, engagement activities, and exercise of rights and responsibilities.

The Q1 2025 LGIM Quarterly Engagement Report provided an overview of LGIM's key stewardship themes and engagement activity.

Derbyshire Pension Fund Risk Register

The committee was scheduled to consider the Derbyshire Pension Fund Risk Register. The risk register identifies risk items, descriptions of risks and potential impacts, impact and probability scores, risk mitigation controls and procedures, proposed further controls and procedures, risk owners, target risk scores, and trend risk scores.

The report pack stated that the risk register is kept under constant review by the risk owners, with quarterly review by the Director of Finance. The risk register is also discussed at the quarterly meetings of Derbyshire Pension Board, and the Board undertakes a detailed review of the risk register on an annual basis.

The report pack stated that the risk register currently has the following five high risk items:

• Systems failure/Lack of disaster recovery plan/Cybercrime attack (Risk No.13)
• Fund assets insufficient to meet liabilities (Risk No.20)
• LGPS Central Limited related underperformance of investment returns (Risk No.31)
• Insufficient cyber-liability insurance relating to the pensions administration system (Risk No.41)
• Impact of McCloud judgement on administration (Risk No.45)

The report pack stated that the risk score for Risk No. 4 PIC/Pension Board members' lack of knowledge & understanding of their roles & responsibilities leading to inappropriate decisions had been changed, and that the narratives for a number of risks had been updated.

Local Government Pension Scheme - Access and Fairness Consultation

The committee was scheduled to be informed about the publication by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) of the Local Government Pension Scheme in England and Wales: Access and fairness consultation. The report pack stated that the consultation is open to all stakeholders to respond by the closing date of 7 August 2025, and that the key objectives of the proposals set out in the consultation are to:

• improve access, equality and fairness in the operation of the LGPS for all eligible employees
• ensure survivor pensions and death grants are distributed more equitably
• address the Gender Pension Gap in the LGPS
• obtain evidence relating to members who opt out of the LGPS
• tackle some long-standing issues with forfeiture in the LGPS
• fix issues with the operation of the McCloud underpin
• address a number of issues brought to MHCLG's attention by the LGPS Scheme Advisory Board

The report pack summarised the key proposals included in the consultation, including proposals related to survivor benefits, the gender pension gap, opt-outs, forfeiture, McCloud-related changes, and other technical changes.

The report pack stated that the Pension Fund intends to submit a response to the consultation before the closing date of 7 August 2025, and that the response is expected to be broadly supportive of the proposals as they are intended to improve access, equality and fairness in the LGPS for scheme members.