The Bromley Council Pensions Committee met on 28 August 2025, to discuss the performance of the pension fund, the annual report, and a presentation from Legal & General Investment Management. The committee endorsed the key procurement decision levels and noted the contents of the Pension Fund Performance report, the Local Pension Board Annual Report 2024/25, and the Pension Fund Annual Report and Draft Accounts 2024/25.

Pension Fund Performance Q1 2025/26

The committee reviewed the investment performance of Bromley's Pension Fund in the first quarter of 2025/26, as detailed in report FSD25048. The report included information on financial and membership trends, early retirements, and key developments in the Local Government Pension Fund (LGPS) over the next five years.

The market value of the fund ended the quarter at £1,525.4m, an increase of £77.6m since 31 March. The total fund return for the first quarter was 3.68%, slightly below the benchmark of 3.74%. The report also noted that the fund's medium and long-term returns remained strong overall, though it underperformed the benchmark for 2024/25.

The committee endorsed the key procurement decision levels, allowing the Director of Finance to make decisions under £1m, the Budget Holder (Head of Corporate Finance & Accounting) for decisions under £500k, and direct awards under £200k.

Pension Fund Annual Report and Draft Accounts 2024/25

The committee considered and approved the Pension Fund Annual Report and Draft Accounts 2024/25. The report is required by the Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations 2013 and includes key governance documents such as the Governance Policy Statement, Funding Strategy Statement, Investment Strategy Statement, and Communications Policy Statement. The annual report and accounts are subject to external audit, with potential revisions before finalisation.

The report noted that the value of the fund increased from £1,443.0m as at 1 April 2024, to £1,485.6m as at 31 March 2025. The fund return for the year was 3.60%, below the benchmark of 4.34%.

Presentation from Legal & General Investment Management

At the previous meeting, on 28 May 2025, the committee received a presentation from representatives, James Sparshott, Head of Strategic Client Team: Asset Management, Ryan Boothroyd, Senior Investment Specialist and Stefan Bilby, Head of Index Distribution from Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) on global equity passive management. The presentation was noted.

LGIM representatives explained that investors could choose from thousands of available indices, with options to have capped indices, biases to certain companies, or to invest in a developed market index with no investment exposure to emerging markets. The Head of Strategic Client Team: Asset Management explained that this approach allowed fees to be significantly lower than other forms of investment.

A member noted the continuing concentration of indices towards United States of America (US) technology stocks and asked the presenters for their views on how this might be impacted by political volatility in the US. The Senior Investment Specialist said that market data and conversations with clients was indicating that some investors were reappraising their level of exposure to investment in the US market.

Local Pension Board Annual Report

The committee noted the Local Pension Board Annual Report 2024/25. The report, which had been approved by the Local Pension Board at its meeting on 12 May 2025, included a summary of the board's work during the past year and details of areas of concern.

Pension Fund Performance Q1 2025/26 - Appendix 5

Appendix 5 of the Pension Fund Performance Q1 2025/26 report included a quarterly investment report from Apex Group, the fund's external advisor.

The report noted that the Fund returned 3.7% over the second quarter of 2025, driven by strong returns across almost all asset classes. The strong return from global equities of 11.5% over the quarter in local currency terms was reduced by the strength of Sterling as was the return from the International Property portfolio which is Us domiciled. The Fund return was in-line with the benchmark return over the quarter.

The report also included a commentary on the market:

The Wille-e-coyote moment – are we there yet? Has the US economy run off the edge of a cliff? The answer is no, but the data is deteriorating slowly, and I would expect the speed of that deterioration to pick up over the coming months. However, it remains difficult to discern how severe this economic downturn will be. The central case is still a slowdown not a recession. Outside of the US, economies in the EU and Japan are stable but low growth and, in the EU in particular, inflation is subdued.

The report also noted that the UK Government has instructed all LGPS Funds to complete the pooling of liquid assets by March 2026.

LGPS Updates - Appendix 6

Appendix 6 of the Pension Fund Performance Q1 2025/26 report included a summary of LGPS updates.

The report noted that the government will proceed with its Good Governance proposals including a requirement for:

• the appointment of a senior LGPS officer with delegated responsibility for the management and administration of the LGPS fund;
• an administration strategy, governance strategy, training strategy and conflict of interest policy;
• an independent non-voting person to advise the pensions committee; and
• requirement for a triennial independent governance review.

The report also noted that with effect from August 2025, all active and deferred members will be informed through their annual pension statements whether or not they are entitled to a McCloud remedy uplift to their pension benefits.

The report also included a summary of the government's consultation Local Government Pension Scheme in England and Wales: Access and fairness which contains proposals to:

• Address the Gender Pensions Gap in the scheme
• Collect data on opt outs
• Extend the forfeiture provisions
• Address issues with the operation of the McCloud underpin
• Permit members who transfer out to keep their AVCs within the LGPS
• Remove the LTA and LTA charge
• Remove the requirement to pay a refund of contributions on a specific date.

Updates from the Chairman/Director of Finance/Pensions Investment Advisor

No update was given.