The Pension Committee is scheduled to meet to review the fund's investment performance, administration, and risk management. The committee will also look at the annual stewardship report and discuss the investment strategy. Finally, they will discuss the expansion of the London Collective Investment Vehicle (LCIV) to include Buckinghamshire County Council.

Investment Strategy Review

The Pension Committee is scheduled to discuss the fund's investment strategy. The report pack does not contain any details about what will be discussed in the investment strategy review.

Quarterly Investment Performance and LCIV Update

The committee is scheduled to receive an update on the fund's investment performance up to 30 September 2025. According to the Quarterly Investment and Manager Performance to 30 September 2025, the fund's market value was £1,065.9m, an increase of £47.9m from the previous quarter.

The report pack states that the fund outperformed its benchmark by 0.1% over the quarter, with a return of 5.0% against a benchmark of 4.9%. Over one year, the fund returned 10.1% against a benchmark of 10.3%. The three-year return of 9.7% compares favourably against the benchmark of 9.6% and the actuary's expected return of 4.3%. However, the five-year return underperformed by -0.8% (7.2% vs 8.0%).

The Quarterly Investment and Manager Performance to 30 September 2025 states that the fund's outperformance was mainly due to the LCIV MAC Fund and Partners Group infrastructure mandates. However, the LCIV Sustainable Equity Fund and LCIV Global Equity Fund underperformed.

The committee will also discuss the fund's asset allocation as of 30 September 2025, and an update on the LCIV. As of 30 September 2025, the fund had £666.7m invested directly in LCIV pooled funds and £225.5m invested indirectly through the Legal and General Investment Management (LGIM) passive funds, representing 83.7% of the Pension Fund's assets under management.

The report pack notes that Buckinghamshire County Council has confirmed its decision to join LCIV as its new pooling partner, following the national decision regarding the dissolution of the Brunel pool¹. The Quarterly Investment and Manager Performance to 30 September 2025 states that the committee will be asked to delegate authority to the Strategic Director of Resources, Richard Simpson, to sign the shareholder agreement allowing Buckinghamshire Pension Fund to join LCIV.

Annual Stewardship Report

The committee is scheduled to review and approve the draft Annual Stewardship Report for 2024/25. The report provides an overview of the stewardship activities undertaken by the Pension Fund during the 2024/25. The Annual Stewardship Report outlines the fund's approach to stewardship, describing the actions taken over the past year that have contributed to the Fund's Responsible Investment approach. It also provides transparency to members, employers, and other stakeholders.

The report contains nine sections, including an introduction, information on the fund and how it operates, the fund's responsible investment policy, the fund's responsible investment journey, engagement, voting, climate change, impact investing, and a glossary. The Annual Stewardship Report states that this is the first Stewardship Report that the Fund has produced and it is expected to be further refined and developed in future years.

Governance and Risk Update

The committee is scheduled to receive an update on key governance activities and review the fund's risk register. According to the Governance and Risk Update, risk management involves identifying, analysing, and controlling threats to the fund's strategic objectives and operational activities. The Governance and Risk Update states that the Risk Register overview report is included as Appendix A. All risks have been categorised under one of three main themes: Administration, Funding and Investments, and Governance. Each risk is assessed as red (high risk), amber (medium risk) or green (low risk), summarised into an overall rating for that group. As of the time of writing the report, the Administration risks are rated amber overall, with one red and two amber risks. Both the Funding and Investments group and Governance group are rated green.

The Governance and Risk Update notes that there is currently one red rated risk: Failure by software provider (Civica) to provide software compliant with LGPS Regulations². The report pack states that officers have reviewed this risk and, despite some recent progress, recommend its red rating remains unchanged. The core risk is that until a fully compliant and tested solution is delivered, the Fund lacks a guaranteed operational system compliant with LGPS regulations, which could lead to the incorrect payment of member benefits.

The committee will also discuss the triennial valuation 2025 update and the LGPS consultation - Scheme improvements (access and protections). The Governance and Risk Update notes a recent change to the ministerial team at the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG). Alison McGovern MP was appointed as the new Minister of State for Local Government and Homelessness.

Pension Administration Performance Update

The committee is scheduled to receive an update on the key administration performance of the Shared Pensions Administration Service. According to the Pension Administration Performance Update, the total number of outstanding processes has increased slightly from 820 to 837 since the last report. This increase was anticipated and is a direct result of the annual additional Leaver processes following the end of the academic year, which grew from 286 to 443 cases over the quarter.

The Pension Administration Performance Update states that officers are monitoring performance against two clear targets:

• No more than 10% of all cases will be overdue
• No more than 10% of overdue cases will be more than a month overdue

The report pack notes that the team's immediate priority was to resolve older cases. This has been successful, with cases overdue by 31 days improving from 35.3% to 15.3% over the quarter. The red rating for total cases overdue reflects a temporary backlog driven by the increase in leaver cases, rather than a return of the previous historic backlog which remains cleared.

Pension Administration Projects Update

The committee is scheduled to receive an update on the key administration projects of the Shared Pensions Administration Service. According to the Pension Administration Projects Update, the Pensions Dashboard project was completed on time, and the Fund successfully connected by the guidance staging date of 31 October 2025. The Dashboards Available Point (DAP), when the dashboard will be available to the public, has not yet been confirmed by the Pensions Dashboards Programme. Officers understand the current estimated timeline for this is Autumn 2026.

The Pension Administration Projects Update states that a revised project plan was established with a new target completion date of 30 June 2026 for the McCloud Remedy³, after the Fund missed the statutory implementation deadline. Communications to all 3,544 in-scope members, explaining the delay and revised timeline, were issued in November 2025. Progress has also been made on the key software dependency. Civica installed an initial McCloud patch on 21 October 2025.

Budget Monitoring

The committee is scheduled to receive a report presenting the Pension Fund's final outturn position against budget for 2024-25 and a mid-year update on the 2025-26 budget. The Budget Monitoring - 2025-26 Six Month Update 2024-25 Outturn vs Budget states that the final net outturn for 2024-25 came in at £15.090m under the approved 2024-25 net budget. This is largely due to the £12.500m accrual that was made for the Idverde bulk transfer from LB Croydon, along with the receipt of higher contributions than expected.

The Budget Monitoring - 2025-26 Six Month Update 2024-25 Outturn vs Budget notes that the Fund is forecasting total management expenses of £6.114m, compared to the original approved budget of £6.469m. This is a positive variance, primarily due to reduced staffing costs and lower projected fund manager fees.

Work Programme Update

The committee is scheduled to note the updated Work Programme for the Committee. The Work Programme Update sets out the proposed indicative agenda items for the committee meetings that are due to take place over the next year. The list of agenda items for the forthcoming year will be further varied should developments between now and the meeting dates necessitate. The Chair, Councillor Cryss Mennaceur, will be informed of any proposed changes.