Minutes of Proceedings

APOLOGIES: Mr J Dallat

IN THE CHAIR: Mr D Watson

IN ATTENDANCE: Mr T Evans, Mrs K McCartney, and Mr R McNeilly

1. Minutes of meeting of 8 April and 5 May 2004 were accepted.

Mr Watson reiterated his apologies for his absence at the previous meeting.
Mr Dallat gave his apologies at the end of the meeting. 

2. MATTERS ARISING

STATEMENT OF INVESTMENT PRINCIPLES

The Trustees agreed to discuss this matter under Agenda Item 3 of the meeting.

ANNUAL BENEFIT STATEMENTS

At a previous meeting the Trustees had been advised that the non-reckonable service between the day after election and the day before the new salaries determination comes into effect could be regarded as a break in service. The Government Actuary’s advice on the matter is that the actual period of reckonable service is the aggregate of both periods and therefore does not create a ‘break in service’. The Trustees agreed that this concluded the matter.

ANNUAL REPORT

Trustees cleared the draft 2002/2003 Annual Report and agreed that the Annual Report should now be laid in the Business Office and issued to all Members of the scheme.

3. STATEMENT OF INVESTMENT PRINCIPLES

The Trustees were provided with a draft Statement of Investment Principles prepared by the Government Actuary’s Department. The Trustees agreed to use the shorter version for the tender process and the more substantive version for the appointment of the Investment Manager.

4. TENDER FOR NEW INVESTMENT MANAGER

The Trustees considered and approved the draft specification, tender documentation and timetable prepared by Mr Gibson, Head of Procurement.

The Trustees agreed the following:

5. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

RATIONALISATION OF ROYAL LONDON POOLED PENSIONS COMPANY FUND RANGE

The Trustees noted the correspondence from RLAM advising that all of the balanced funds, managed equity funds and regional equity funds are being closed. The Trustees also noted Mr Ballantine’s paper recommending that it might be desirable to consider taking immediate action by either transferring the balanced fund completely into the RLAM Cash Fund or to transfer the existing assets on a temporary basis to an index-tracking vehicle.

The Trustees agreed to transfer the balanced fund into the RLAM Cash Fund, conditional to any charges.

Mr Evan’s agreed to contact Mr Ballantine to discuss the most appropriate investment options for existing and future contributions.

SWISS LIFE RENEWAL

The Trustees agreed that the Swiss Life Insurance policy should be renewed on the due date, 22 October 2004.

OPTING BACK IN TO THE ASSEMBLY MEMBERS PENSION SCHEME

The Trustees agreed that a former scheme member could opt back into the pension scheme outside the three-month deadline. The Trustees also agreed that there was no requirement to complete a statement of health, as the completion of the employee’s declaration required by Swiss Life would be sufficient.

In taking this decision the Trustees applied the same facility that is available to Officeholders who are allowed to opt into the pension scheme within a period of 12 months. However the Trustees agreed that their discretion could not be applied after the 12-month period.

TRANSFERS

The Trustees approved one application to transfer pension benefits into the Assembly Members’ Pension Scheme.

The Trustees also approved applications by two former members of the AMPS to transfer their pension benefits out of the Assembly Members’ Pension Scheme.

Mr Evans reported that he had been asked by a former member of the scheme to bring to the Trustees’ attention the significant loss incurred in transferring into AMPS from another occupational pension scheme and then following the November 2003 elections transferring back to that scheme. The Trustees determined that it is the responsibility of the individual to seek independent advice on these matters. The Trustees asked that this is brought to the attention of all scheme members.

6. DATE OF NEXT MEETING

It was agreed that the next meeting would be held at the end of September to evaluate the responses received from the tender. It was also agreed that an earlier meeting could be arranged if required to deal with general business.