Funding and investments

Investment and fund management

Buckinghamshire Council is the administering authority for Buckinghamshire Pension Fund. The Pension Fund Committee (PFC) is responsible for:

the overall investment objectives for the Fund
the Fund’s Investment Strategy Statement
the Fund’s asset allocation policy
approving the Funding Strategy Statement
approving the Investment Strategy Statement
approving the Governance Compliance Statement
approving the Pension Administration Strategy
approving the Communications Policy
monitoring Fund performance
monitoring Scheme Governance
the appointment of firms to provide investment and actuarial advice to the Fund
monitoring the performance of Brunel in delivering investment services to the Fund (see Investment pooling)
making representations to the Brunel Oversight Board on matters of concern regarding the service provided by Brunel and the performance of its portfolios
any other matters relating to the management and investment of the Pension Fund, as requested

Fund managers and the custodian bank are appointed and monitored by Brunel Pension Partnership.

The PFC is made up of 9 members, including a representative from Milton Keynes Council and Thames Valley Police.

You can find out more about the Committee, dates of meetings, agendas and minutes on the democratic services section of the Buckinghamshire Council website.

Pension fund committee members

Ralph Bagge (Vice-Chair)

Matthew Barber (representing Thames Valley Police)

Timothy Butcher (Chair)

Alex Collingwood

Ed Gemmell

Iain Macpherson

Peter Marland (representing Milton Keynes Council)

Matthew Walsh

Fund advisors

Mercer Investment Consulting

Carolan Dobson

Fund managers

Legal & General Investment Management

Pantheon Private Equity

Partners Group

Custodian

State Street

AVC providers

Prudential

Scottish Widows

Pension fund annual reports

The pension fund accounts are included in the Annual Statement of Accounts. The pension fund accounts set out the transactions of the pension fund for the year and its financial position.

The latest annual report is for 2021 to 2022. This is now available to download.

Pension Fund Annual Report 2021 to 2022 PDF, 3.6 MB

Archive of annual reports

Funding strategy statement

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) requires each LGPS administering authority to have a Funding Strategy Statement (FSS).

The contribution review policy and the deferred debt and debt spreading policy should be read in conjunction with the Funding Strategy Statement.

The fund’s policy for ensuring employer pension liabilities are met:

Funding Strategy Statement PDF, 314 KB

The circumstances where the Fund would consider reviewing employer contribution rates outside of the triennial valuation cycle:

Contribution review policy PDF, 163KB

The circumstances where the Fund would consider alternative options to a lump sum exit payment:

Deferred debt and debt spreading policies PDF, 173 KB

Investment pooling

Brunel Pension Partnership

In 2015 the government announced that they wanted the 91 Local Government Pension Scheme funds to pool their investments into larger pools in order to achieve savings in investment management costs.

In response to the government agenda, Brunel Pension Partnership was set up to explore the options for pooling investment assets across ten Funds. The founding Funds comprise The Environment Agency Pension Fund, and the Local Government Funds of Avon, Buckinghamshire, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Somerset and Wiltshire. The collective assets of the pool are approximately £30 billion.

The objective of pooling the assets is to achieve savings over the longer term from both lower investment management costs and more effective management of the investment assets. The pool will look to deliver the savings based upon the collective buying power the collaboration initiative will produce. Local accountability will be maintained as each individual fund will remain responsible for strategic decisions including asset allocation. The pooling of assets will only affect the implementation of the investment strategy in terms of manager appointments.

Brunel Pension Partnership is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct authority as a full service MiFID firm.

More information and updates can be found on the Brunel Pension Partnership website.

Downloads

Questions and answers for LGPS Members - Investment reform PDF, 103 KB
Questions and Answers for LGPS Employers – Investment reform PDF, 165 KB

Investment strategy statement

The Local Government Pension Scheme (Management and Investment of Funds) Regulations 2016 require administering authorities to formulate and to publish a statement of its investment strategy, in accordance with guidance issued from time to time by the Secretary of State.

This statement sets out the principles that will guide the Committee when making decisions about the investment of the Fund's assets. It also sets out the framework for investing the Fund’s assets which is consistent with the funding strategy, as set out in the funding strategy statement.

View: BPF investment strategy statement PDF, 268 KB

View: Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance Policy PDF, 80 KB

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