The Wiltshire Pension Fund Committee met to discuss responsible investment, review the fund's performance, and consider its investment policies. The committee approved the updated Responsible Investment Policy for 2025 and received an update on the fund's responsible investment performance, including progress against the Responsible Investment Plan 2025/26. They also discussed climate change, biodiversity, and social factors in relation to the fund's investments.

Responsible Investment Policy Approved

The committee approved the updated Responsible Investment Policy for 2025. Jennifer Devine, Head of Wiltshire Pension Fund, explained that the 2025 version had undergone only minor changes compared to the 2024 version, as the fund is in the process of moving to a new investment pool, which may impact how the policy can be implemented. A more substantial revision is expected for the 2026 policy.

The Responsible Investment Policy is considered an integral part of the Fund's Investment Strategy Statement (ISS). It outlines the fund's beliefs regarding responsible investment and its approach to embedding responsible investment at every level in its strategy and operations.

The policy includes specific plans and targets to address climate change risk in the investment portfolios. It also details the fund's approach to biodiversity risk, social factors, and impact investing.

The policy sets a goal to decarbonise from the baseline position at 31 December 2019 and achieve net-zero carbon emissions across all investment portfolios by 2050. The fund's climate risk work is based on scenario modelling, which enables them to put numbers around the risk and make decisions based on what is the best financial outcome for the fund.

The Fund's Climate Commitments include:

• A whole Fund carbon reduction target of 50% by 2030.
• A listed equities carbon reduction target of 43% by 2025 and 69% by 2030.
• Allocating 30% of the Fund to sustainable/low carbon green assets by 2025, and 35% by 2030.
• All property investments being aligned with a net-zero by 2050 target by 2030.
• Engaging with the fund's top 10 emitters and reporting transparently on the findings.

The policy states that the Fund does not see a long-term place for fossil fuel investments in its portfolios and will work towards being fully divested from these companies by 2030.

Responsible Investment Update

The committee received a report from Chris Moore, Investment and Accounting Team Lead, updating them on responsible investment issues and progress against recent decisions and the actions in the Responsible Investment Plan 2025/26.

The report highlighted that the Wiltshire Pension Fund had maintained its signatory status for the fourth consecutive year to the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) Stewardship Code.

The committee was also informed of a letter received from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), alleging that LGPS administering authorities are in breach of their legal obligations in relation to the ongoing humanitarian disaster in Gaza. The letter was accompanied by a more detailed position paper prepared by senior lawyers at Doughty Street Chambers. The Scheme Advisory Board (SAB) is supporting funds in responding collectively, and the previous legal advice issued by the SAB concludes that it is not unlawful for LGPS funds to invest in undertakings engaged in activities which have a bearing upon Israel's conduct in Gaza or other Palestinian territories.

Spotlight on Social Themes Report

The final version of the Spotlight on Social Themes Report was presented. This report incorporates the Fund's affordable housing impact report, which was previously reported separately. The report highlights work undertaken on the Fund's priority social themes, including affordable housing, education, equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), creative destruction, equitable outcomes and AI, health, and labour practices.

The report includes case studies on:

• Local Affordable Housing in Chippenham
• UK Community Housing in Wantage
• Catapulting Innovation in Stevenage
• Reaching New Heights with Space Forge in Swansea

The report also highlights learning and development at WPF, juicy alternatives to meat, supporting innovation in life sciences, ShareAction for Healthier Profits, an unsustainable culture at Tesla, Trump and Costco, and EDI at WPF.

Site Visits

The team has undertaken a range of site visits to investments in the UK. The purpose of these site visits is to gain assurance over the investments being made on the fund's behalf and to communicate to its members in an engaging manner. A site visit provides the best opportunity to scrutinise an investment and consider its impact.

Recent site visits include:

• Fugglestone affordable housing site visit in Salisbury
• District Heating System in Battersea, London

Voting

The fund has continued reporting on how its voting rights have been exercised, with the quarterly reports published on the Wiltshire Pension Fund website.