The Pension Fund Committee for Somerset Council met on Friday, 12 September 2025, to discuss several items, including investment and administration performance, a business plan update, and pooling. The meeting was scheduled to include a verbal update from the Independent Investment Advisor on financial market developments. Public questions were also scheduled to be addressed.

Public Question Time

A question from Sigurd Reimers regarding agenda item 13, which concerned an update on pooling, was scheduled to be raised during public question time. Mr Reimers expressed concern about the potential exclusion of the public from the discussion and requested more details about why such an exclusion was considered necessary. He also raised concerns about the possible threat to local democracy involved in the reduction in the number of pension pools, and the sheer size of these pools limiting access to pension providers. The Treasury and Pensions Manager was scheduled to provide a response.

Update on Pooling

The Treasury and Pensions Manager was scheduled to provide a report on the update on pooling. It was noted in the agenda that although the main report for this item was not confidential, supporting appendices available to members contained exempt information and were marked confidential, and therefore not for publication. The report pack indicated that if members wished to discuss information within the appendix, then the council would be asked to agree to exclude the press and public, because the discussion would include:

Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

Review of Investment Performance

The Treasury and Pensions Manager was scheduled to present a report to inform the committee about the performance of the Pension Fund's investments for the quarter ending 30 June 2025. The report included summaries of the performance of various Brunel ¹ investment portfolios, including:

• Passive Global Equity
• Global High Alpha Equity
• UK Equities
• Global Smaller Companies Equity
• Emerging Market Equity
• Passive Gilts
• Passive (index-Linked Gilts)
• Sterling Corporate Bonds
• Multi Asset Credit
• Property Fund of Funds as well as the performance of Neuberger Berman (Global Private Equity) and the South West Ventures Fund.

The report also included an update from the Fund's Actuary, Barnett Waddingham.

Review of Administration Performance

The Head of Peninsula Pensions was scheduled to present a report on the administration performance. The report included performance against the Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Disclosure of Information) Regulations 2013, and internal targets outlined within the Pension Administration Strategy. The report also provided an update on the McCloud remedy² and the Pensions Dashboard³.

Review of Employer Performance

The Head of Peninsula Pensions was scheduled to present a report outlining the actions taken by Peninsula Pensions to monitor the ongoing performance of active employers within the Somerset Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) Fund, relating to pension administration for scheme members. The report included information on the timely receipt of administration data, leaver notifications, and new scheme members joining the LGPS.

Business Plan Update

The Treasury and Pensions Manager was scheduled to provide an update on the Committee's business plan, including progress and amendments. The update also included relevant developments to the LGPS in general, and monitoring legal and regulatory developments in relation to McCloud, Goodwin, and the £95,000 cap.

Finance and Membership Statistics Update

The Treasury and Pensions Manager was scheduled to present a report updating the committee on the position of the Pension Fund's provisional end of Quarter 1 financial position as at 30 June 2025, and related matters. The report included the outturn position for Quarter 1 of financial year 2025/26, and membership statistics.

Review of Pension Fund Risk Register

The Treasury and Pensions Manager was scheduled to present a report to review the risks contained on the risk register. The report noted that following a discussion at the June Pension Fund Committee meeting, the likelihood score for regulatory change risk was increased to 5 due to imminent regulatory changes.

Pension Fund Annual Report 2024/25

The Treasury and Pensions Manager was scheduled to present a report to give members an overview of the fund's accounts, the information within the accounts, the investment performance for the 2024/25 financial year, and related matters covered in the Fund's Annual Report.