Statement of Investment Principles 2018

[Pages:18]Statement of Investment Principles 2018

Contents

1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 2 2. Structure of Schemes ................................................................................................................. 2 3. Investment Objectives ............................................................................................................... 3 4. Investment Strategy................................................................................................................... 4 5. Growth Assets ............................................................................................................................ 4 6. Bond-Like Assets ........................................................................................................................ 5 7. Salary-Linked Bond .................................................................................................................... 5 8. Portfolio Construction................................................................................................................ 6 9. Safe-keeping of the Schemes' Assets ........................................................................................ 7 10. Cashflow..................................................................................................................................... 8 11. Investment Risk.......................................................................................................................... 8 12. Responsible Investment and Corporate Governance................................................................ 9 13. Annual Review ........................................................................................................................... 9

Appendix to the Statement of Investment Principles 2018 ......................................................... 10 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 10 Investment Managers ................................................................................................................... 10 Manager Mandates....................................................................................................................... 12

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1. Introduction

The Public Employees Pension Fund (PEPF) is the pension fund for the provision of finalsalary and career average revalued earnings (CARE) pension benefits to public servants, excluding teachers, in Jersey. PEPF is "the Fund" as defined under Article 5 of the Public Employees (Pension) (Jersey) Law 2014. The Fund provides pension benefits under the States of Jersey Public Employees Contributory Retirement Scheme (PECRS) and the CARE benefits provided by the Public Employees Pension Scheme (PEPS). Under PECRS, members accrue benefits on a final salary basis, whilst PEPS members accrue benefits based on career average earnings.

This Statement has been prepared by the Committee of Management ("the Committee"), in consultation with the Treasurer of the States, in accordance with Regulation 17 of the Public Employees (Pension Scheme) (Administration) (Jersey) Regulations 2015. It sets out the policies and principles governing the Committee's decisions in relation to the investment of the Schemes' assets. The regulations specify that the Statement may contain any of the following;-

the descriptions of investments to be held; the balance between different descriptions of investments; risk, including the ways in which risks are to be measured and managed; the expected return on investments; the realisation of investments; the approach taken and the extent (if at all) to which social, environment or ethical

considerations are taken into account in the selection, retention and realisation of investments; the approach taken on the exercising of any rights (including voting rights) attaching to investments, if the Committee has any such policy; and the approach taken on stock lending.

In addition to the Statement, the Committee publishes an Appendix setting out the details of the investments, which may change on an ongoing basis.

2. Structure of Schemes

From 1 January 2016, new joiners to the pension scheme have accrued benefits in the PEPS Scheme, whilst existing members on 31 December 2015 continue to accrue benefits in the PECRS Scheme until 31 December 2018. From 1 January 2019 future accrual for the majority of employees will be in PEPS.

The Committee is responsible for managing the Schemes' assets in accordance with the relevant regulations, which state that it must have regard to:

the need for diversification of investments of the assets of the fund; the suitability of the investment it proposes to make; and proper advice obtained at reasonable intervals.

The Subcommittee is advised by the Investment Adviser (Mercer) on all aspects of its investment strategy and operations.

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To allow detailed consideration of investment issues, the Committee has an Investment Subcommittee ("the Subcommittee"). The Subcommittee typically meets five times a year and reports, advises and makes recommendations to the Committee on all investment matters relating to the Schemes, and, in particular, on investment strategy and the investment managers. The Subcommittee also implements investment decisions on behalf of the Committee, including movement of funds between investment managers. The Committee receives an investment report at each of its quarterly meetings at which investment is a standing agenda item.

3. Investment Objectives

The Committee's overall investment objective is to invest the assets of the Schemes to seek to ensure that the present and future benefits to which members are entitled under the Schemes are provided as they fall due. In order to achieve this, there are a number of things that need to be balanced. These include, in particular, the level of contributions, likely investment returns, the outlook for inflation and the funding strategy. Information on the funding strategy for PECRS and PEPS is set out in the PEP's published Funding Strategy Statement. In order to achieve the required returns on the assets, it is necessary for any such Scheme to take some investment risk. The Committee weighs with care the amount of investment risk it is necessary or desirable to take at any particular time.

Taking account of the contributions available (the maximum levels of which are laid out in the Schemes' regulations) and the benefits expected to be payable from the Schemes, the Committee establishes a target level of investment return. The target is set with advice from the Schemes' Actuary (Aon Hewitt), which advises the Committee on funding-related matters, and the Investment Adviser (Mercer).

The target investment return at the date of this statement is Jersey RPI plus 2.15% p.a. This target forms the basis of the most recent actuarial valuation of the Scheme, at 31 December 2016. The target is reviewed ahead of each valuation. The Committee develops its investment strategy in order to seek to achieve at least that target return. In targeting this return, the Committee considers the amount of risk that it is necessary to take, the implications of that and how best to spread that risk across the range of its investments.

At the date of this statement, the target investment return and investment arrangements of PECRS (excluding the Salary-Linked Bond) and PEPS were the same. As such, both Schemes are currently managed to the same investment strategy. The Committee believes this is appropriate, and expects it to remain so over the medium term. The Salary-Linked Bond, however, pertains only to PECRS and so, in practice, the investment strategy for PECRS targets a slightly lower level of investment return than PEPS. This is illustrated by the higher bond-like allocation for PECRS in the table in Section 4.

The Committee regularly reviews the investment arrangements of the Schemes to ensure that they remain appropriate. Over time the target investment returns and investment arrangements will diverge between the two in line with the changing circumstances of the Schemes (such as differences in the membership profiles). In particular, the Committee expects to need gradually to de-risk the investment arrangements of PECRS once it has become, in effect, a closed Scheme.

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This expectation of future de-risking was reflected in the arrangements agreed with the Scheme Actuary for determining the PECRS funding requirements at the 2016 actuarial valuation. As part of the 2016 valuation it is assumed that PECRS will gradually be de-risked over the period between 2021 and 2041 to a portfolio (excluding the Salary-Linked Bond) based on one-third in growth investments and two-thirds in bond-like investments

4. Investment Strategy

The most important strategic investment issue is the balance between growth and bond-like assets. This is likely to have the biggest influence on the overall level of return achieved in excess of the Schemes' liabilities, and integral to it is the judgement to be made on the level of risk to be taken. The table below indicates the current strategic asset allocation for the Schemes and the level of flexibility that the Committee gives itself in order to manage the allocations to the various asset categories around the set targets.

Asset Class

PECRS (including SLB)

PECRS (excluding SLB)

PEPS (%)

Range1

Growth Investments

55.0

63.0

63.0

+/- 10.0

Equities

35.0

40.0

40.0

+/- 10.0

Alternatives

20.0

23.0

23.0

+/- 10.0

Bond-like Investments

45.0

37.0

37.0

+/- 10.0

Corporate Bonds

10.0

11.4

11.4

+/- 10.0

Index-Linked Gilts

10.0

11.4

11.4

+/- 10.0

Property

12.5

14.2

14.2

+/- 5.0

Salary Linked Bond

12.5

-

-

n/a

1 The ranges in the table relate to the strategic asset allocation including the Salary-Linked Bond; there are, however, no ranges on the Salary-Linked Bond as it is not a tradeable asset.

The Committee can from time-to-time take positions not represented within the strategic benchmark allocation. Deviations from the strategic benchmark allocation are reviewed regularly by the Subcommittee.

5. Growth Assets

Growth assets are those assets where the investment aim is to achieve a higher level of investment return relative to the liabilities. The risk, or rather uncertainty, however, associated with assets expected to generate higher returns is that their value can fluctuate significantly over time.

The core growth asset used by the Schemes is equities, a significant holding in which the Committee believes provides the most likely means of achieving the requisite investment return over the long-term.

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In order, however, to diversify the Schemes' growth assets the Committee has invested in other "growth-like" alternatives that still achieve a reasonably high investment return. A key aim is to avoid being over exposed to any one market, asset class or manager, while having individual holdings that are large enough to attract scale economies in fees and oversight. The "growth-like" alternatives provide differing sources of return less correlated to traditional asset classes. The Committee is aware that investing in alternatives may bring with it risks such as illiquidity and individual manager risk, and could result in higher fees. Nonetheless, it believes that including alternatives within the growth assets is an essential strategic requirement in order to spread risk in potentially volatile markets.

6. Bond-Like Assets

Bond-like assets are those assets providing a contribution towards meeting the target investment return and the overall diversification of the portfolio but at a lower level of risk than growth assets. Typically, bond-like assets will have a strong focus on the provision of income.

The core bond assets within the Schemes' target allocation are index-linked gilts (bonds issued by Her Majesty's Government) and investment grade UK corporate bonds (bonds, denominated in sterling, issued by high-quality companies). Within the bond allocation, however, the Committee has flexibility to invest in other bond-like assets if it thinks it is appropriate to do so taking into account factors such as asset valuation, income yields and diversification. The Scheme does not currently hold gilts because the outlook for gilts, and current valuations, are viewed as unattractive. The Subcommittee has taken the view that there are, at present, more attractive bond-like investment opportunities. Deviations from the strategic benchmark allocation are reviewed regularly by the Subcommittee.

Examples of these include high yield bonds, private debt, and bonds issued by the governments of selected emerging market countries.

As with the growth asset allocation, the Committee keeps under review whether to diversify into other "bond-like" asset classes in order to spread risk in this sphere too. As a result the Committee has made an allocation to UK ground lease property. The mandate is designed to provide a low-risk, generally UK inflation-linked, return.

7. Salary-Linked Bond

The Salary-Linked Bond, which is valued by the Scheme Actuary quarterly, is the capitalised value of the series of payments defined in the Schemes' Regulations which the States and Admitted Bodies are required to pay into PECRS until 2053 (or 2083 for certain Admitted Bodies). These payments are intended to meet the cost of the liability to pay PECRS pension increases which was transferred from the States to PECRS in 1988. This liability is sometimes referred to as the Pre-1987 Debt. Not all Admitted Bodies have a share of this liability; it has been a requirement of the Committee that the element of any part of the Pre1987 Debt allocated to a department of the States that is incorporated, or otherwise put at "arm's length, should usually be repaid in full on day one.

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The Salary-Linked Bond is excluded from the target level of investment return calculation as it provides a stream of annual payments but it is not a tradeable asset. The amount payable under the Salary-Linked Bond increases each year in line with the average pay increase of PECRS members who are State employees (i.e. including promotional salary increases for the relevant employees).

As the Salary-Linked Bond is such a significant asset the States' covenant is kept under review and the Committee would seek to have repayment accelerated if it felt that the covenant was weakening in what seemed to be a material way. The same applies to the Admitted Bodies which still have debt outstanding.

8. Portfolio Construction

In seeking to ensure that the Scheme's assets are suitably diversified across different investment managers, management styles and approaches, the Committee balances the need for diversification against the importance of allocating managers a sufficient portion of the Scheme's assets to allow them to contribute meaningfully to overall portfolio performance. The Subcommittee continually monitors the allocation to each investment manager. The Committee is also very conscious of the demanding governance requirements of having a large number of managers in any asset class. With a manageable number of investment managers, the Committee considers that it is much better placed to undertake appropriate oversight and governance.

The Committee believes that active portfolio management adds value and generally appoints active managers rather than managers that passively replicate an investment benchmark. A substantial proportion of the allocation to equities, however, is managed passively. The Subcommittee regularly reviews detailed analysis of active versus passive management outcomes and recognises that active managers may, from time to time, underperform their respective benchmarks.

The Committee entrusts the day-to-day management of the Schemes' investments (including the selection, ongoing monitoring, administration and exercise of the voting rights of individual investments) to the investment management firms that it appoints. These managers are given discretion to buy and sell investments on behalf of the Schemes, subject to agreed limits and constraints.

When considering the appointment of an investment manager, the following steps are taken:

Discussion of all the options with the Investment Adviser, which eventually leads to the latter putting forward a favoured "best pick" mandate (or mandates), based on its research and suitability for the required mandate taking into account issues such as investment objectives, risk tolerance, investment process, investment management fees, and the liquidity of the mandate.

The Subcommittee will then receive or visit (or both) the proposed managers to form a view as to suitability and fit, leading to a decision in principle.

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 Once such a decision has been taken, formal due diligence is undertaken on the mandate(s) from legal and investment perspectives. Investment due diligence will include consideration of the suitability of the mandate including issues such as the investment objective, benchmarking, level of risk and fees. Operational due diligence is also commissioned, with the Investment Adviser producing an Operational Risk Assessment commissioned from an expert team within Mercer.

The Subcommittee will then make a recommendation to the Committee of Management.

If the recommendation for the appointment of the new mandate is accepted by the Committee, the latter makes a recommendation to the Minister for Treasury and Resources whose approval is required under the Public Employees (Pension Scheme) (Administration) (Jersey) Regulations 2015. The Minister has the power not to accept a recommended appointment and may also require the Committee to terminate appointments of current investment managers without notice.

The appointment of the manager is then completed through the signing of a contract (or similar formal documentation) that sets out the terms and conditions of the manager's appointment and its remuneration.

After appointment, investment managers' performance is subject to regular review by the Subcommittee. It is monitored formally on at least a quarterly basis (and more frequently where necessary) against benchmarks based on national and global market indices, or appropriate performance objectives. Where necessary, changes will be instituted. An Investment Manager, for example, may not deliver a return or level of risk in line with expectations and, as a consequence and after very careful consideration of all relevant factors including market factors and the necessarily long term basis of the Funds, the relevant mandate might be terminated. Wider change in the Schemes' investment strategy may also result in the need to change the Schemes' Investment Managers.

The current investment managers appointed by the Schemes are shown in the Appendix to this Statement. Each manager uses a custodian (where appropriate) that will independently hold the assets for the Investment Manager. This custodian is either appointed by the Treasurer of the States (Northern Trust in the case of segregated mandates) or by the Investment Manager (in the case of a pooled fund)1.

9. Safe-keeping of the Schemes' Assets

The Treasurer of the States has the power to appoint custodians whose role is to ensure the safe-keeping of the Schemes' investments, to collect investment income and to implement instructions from the Investment Managers as to buying and selling stocks and proxy voting. The custodians of pooled funds in which the Schemes invest are appointed by the Investment Managers of those funds; the custodian appointed by the Treasurer looks after the Schemes' segregated portfolios, and overall investment accounting and performance measurement. Northern Trust was appointed as custodian by the Treasurer in 2014 following an open tender.

1 A segregated mandate involves the direct purchase of assets in the Scheme's name, whereas a pooled fund is an investment into a co-mingled vehicle, where the Scheme invests alongside other investors.

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