Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on 1 May 2024 were taken as read, confirmed and signed.

The Chief Executive reported that no questions had been received under Standing Order 35.

The Chief Executive reported that no questions had been received under Standing Order 7(3) and 7(5).

There were no urgent items for consideration.

The Chairman invited members who wished to do so to declare any interest in respect of items on the agenda for the meeting.

No declarations were made.

The Sub-Committee considered a report of the Director of Corporate Resources which provided an update on the cash holding of the Leicestershire County Council Pension Fund (Fund) and plans for its deployment against the Strategic Asset Allocation (SAA). The report also provided information regarding a proposed commitment to private equity in order to maintain alignment to the SAA. A copy of the report marked ‘Agenda Item 6’ is filed with these minutes.

RESOLVED:

a)    That an additional £40m GBP commitment to the LGPS Central Private Equity 2023 vintage be approved.

b)    That a $50m (£40m at a 1.25£/$ exchange rate) USD commitment to the Adams Street Partners global funds 2024 be approved.

The Sub-Committee considered a report of the Director of Corporate Resources which provided an update on the review of the Fund’s infrastructure assets, including timberland investments. A copy of the report marked ‘Agenda Item 7’ is filed with these minutes.

A Member referred to the Fund’s infrastructure, with 75% of assets invested in developed markets, and queried if there was a breakdown of what countries those investments were in. The Director of Corporate Resources informed the meeting that each of the managers in their quarterly reports could provide a geographical breakdown, some of them at country level.

RESOLVED:

That the report on a review of the Fund’s infrastructure assets, including timberland investments, be noted.

Future meetings of the Investment Sub-Committee are scheduled to take place on the following dates:

2 October 2024

11 December 2024

16 April 2025

16 July 2025

1 October 2025

10 December 2025

The dates of future meetings of the Sub-Committee scheduled to take place on the following dates were noted:

2 October 2024

11 December 2024

16 April 2025

16 July 2025

1 October 2025

10 December 2025

RESOLVED:

That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the remaining items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12(A) of the Act.

The Sub-Committee considered a report of the Director of Corporate Resources which provided an update in respect of an infrastructure review of the Fund’s assets and advised on investment commitments to align with the strategic asset allocation (SAA) as agreed by the Local Pension Committee at its meeting in January 2024. A copy of the report marked ‘Agenda Item 10’ is filed with these minutes.

The report also sought approval of several infrastructure commitments and a representative from the Fund’s investment advisor Hymans Robertson (Hymans) delivered a presentation and answered questions from Members. A copy of the presentation is filed with these minutes.

The Chairman welcomed representatives from Stafford Timberland Limited (Stafford) to the meeting who provided a presentation on  the rationale for the recommendation to transfer current interests in three Stafford Timberland investments into one new investment, and answered questions from Members. A copy of the presentation is filed with these minutes.

After their presentation, the representatives from Stafford left the meeting for Members to consider the recommendations in private.

RESOLVED:

a)    That it be approved that the general cash balances fund the below investments noting that these will be called over a number of years:

                      i.          £100million (GBP) be committed to the LGPS Central infrastructure core/core plus fund in 2024

                     ii.          £30million (GBP) to be LGPS Central infrastructure value add/opportunistic fund in 2024

b)    That it be approved that authority be delegated to the Director of Corporate Resources to commit in 2025 and 2026 a further:

                                               i.     £100million in each year to the LGPS Central infrastructure core/core plus fund subject to the details as listed at point 21 of the report.

                                              ii.     £30million in each year to the LGPS Central infrastructure value add/opportunistic fund subject to the details as listed at point 21 of the report.

c)     That Stafford Capital Partners proposal to create a continuation fund for Stafford timberland funds six, seven and eight investments be approved.