LGPS Central Ltd cancelled a shareholder meeting earlier this year as some of the shareholders had signalled they would not agree to the proposed budget and business plan for 2024-25.   

LGPS Central cancelled its general meeting scheduled for 27 February this year “when it became apparent that the company’s strategic business plan & budget 2024-25... including a budget increase of 14.9%, would not be approved by shareholders”, a report by the director of finance of Derbyshire County Council to the pensions and investment committee from 5 June reads. The report has since been removed from the council's website.

Documents from a meeting of the pension fund committee looking after the Cheshire Pension Fund also note the February shareholder meeting “did not go ahead as planned and discussions with partner funds are continuing to seek agreement on the company’s strategic business plan for 2024-25".  

According to Derbyshire’s report, at least four of the eight pension funds that are shareholders of LGPS Central, including Derbyshire, had indicated they could not support the plan. The chair of the pool’s shareholder forum summarised the issues raised by some shareholders in a letter. According to the documents, shareholders were “unclear on how the significant increase in the budget links to the business plan for the year and the future direction”.  

The key focus should be on delivery and performance, according to shareholders, who want the pool to focus on getting core products rights, improve client service and enhance communications, the report suggests. 

There were also “views expressed that commitments made in the 23-24 business plan had not been delivered” and that “this made approving another significant increase for 24-25 difficult”, the document reads. The pension funds found there was “concern around vision from partner funds not aligning with the company”. 

Members of the board of LGPS Central have visited shareholder pension funds individually to discuss the issues raised and the pool was due to present its proposals on next steps in early June this year, according to Derbyshire.  

Pooling companies have been growing, requiring more funding from their shareholders in some cases. The money for pooling comes out of LGPS pension funds directly. While many of the partner funds have seen their funding position improve, not all boast a big surplus. Derbyshire Pension Fund just reached 100% funding at the 2022 valuation, for example, as did the funds for Shropshire and for Nottinghamshire, while Worcestershire Pension Fund reported a 101% funding position. The largest fund in the pool, the West Midlands Pension Fund, was 103% funded. For most schemes, this is likely to have improved further since, however, because of the effect of the September 2022 ‘mini-Budget’.  

The pool appointed chief executive Richard Law-Deeks earlier this year, starting in “early summer”. Law-Deeks replaces Mike Weston, who left LGPS Central about a year ago, which had John Burns as interim CEO. The pool’s shareholders “welcome the opportunity to see what the new CEO delivers”, the report to the Derbyshire committee notes.  

LGPS Central is undergoing further personnel changes. In May, it revealed that chief investment officer Gordon Ross is stepping down, and it is currently seeking a new CIO. In addition, Trevor Castledine joined as chief commercial officer last month.  

Derbyshire County Council, Nottinghamshire County Council and Staffordshire County Council declined to comment. LGPS Central and the other five partner funds have been contacted for comment.