Havering Pension Fund's budget of £6.724 million for the 2026/27 financial year has been approved by the Pensions Committee, marking a 7.6% increase from the previous year's budget of £6.246 million. The committee met on Tuesday, 29 September 2026, to endorse the fund's business plan for 2026-2030, which outlines how the fund will meet its statutory responsibilities and strategic objectives.
The increased budget reflects enhanced requirements in governance, regulatory compliance, administration, and investment oversight. Specifically, the Fit for the Future
reforms introduced by the Pension Schemes Act 2026 necessitate strengthened fund governance, including the appointment of an LGPS Senior Officer and an Independent Person by 31 December 2026. The budget also accounts for ongoing compliance with The Pensions Regulator's General Code of Practice and anticipated requirements from the Pension Schemes Act 2026.
Key priorities for the upcoming year include strengthening governance and regulatory compliance, improving data quality for Pensions Dashboards, and overseeing investment performance and pooling arrangements. The fund aims to meet its statutory responsibilities and strategic objectives through its Business Plan for 2026-2030, which details these priorities, alongside monitoring administration performance and managing funding risks.
A key priority for 2026/27 is to Improve data quality and readiness for Pensions Dashboards.
While specific improvements are not detailed, the Business Plan indicates that ongoing data improvement activity to support operational efficiency and regulatory compliance
is a priority. The expected impact is to ensure readiness for Pensions Dashboards
and to support operational efficiency and regulatory compliance.
For the quarter ending 30 June 2026, the fund's investment portfolio was valued at £1.18 billion, achieving a net positive return of 6.1% over the quarter. While the fund delivered positive returns across all periods, it underperformed its benchmark in each case. The target return objective is to achieve a long-term return of at least 5.5% per annum. The risk objective is to maintain the funding level above 100% with at least a 75% likelihood over a 20-year horizon, with expected forward-looking volatility of returns of 10-12% per annum in normal market conditions.
The Havering Pension Fund has entered into an investment management agreement with London CIV, its asset pool, as required by the Fit for the Future
reforms. The budget allocation for overseeing these arrangements is part of the overall £6.724 million budget for 2026/27, which reflects increased governance, regulatory, administration and investment oversight requirements.
Specifically, the budget includes costs for Investment management and oversight costs required to monitor performance, risk, value for money and pooling arrangements.
The increase of £476,000 from the previous financial year reflects additional governance and regulatory activity, ongoing administration and data-quality improvements, and investment management and oversight costs. Specific administrative costs contributing to the increase include salaries for new roles like the LGPS Senior Officer and an Independent Person, and an assumption for the cost of fees which are likely to increase from £4.2 million to £4.5 million based on the target return.
Further details on the committee's discussions and the fund's business plan can be found in the Public reports pack for the meeting held on 29 September 2026. The Agenda frontsheet and Supplementary Agenda for the same meeting are also available.