Kingston upon Thames Council's Pension Fund Panel has reported a negative return of -1.6% for the quarter ending March 31, 2025, underperforming its benchmark. Despite this, longer-term returns remain positive, and the funding level has significantly improved due to a reduction in the value of future liabilities.

At a meeting held on Tuesday, June 24, 2025, the Pension Fund Panel discussed the investment performance report, along with updates on pension administration, key projects, governance, and risk. Sandy Dickson from Mercer, investment consultant to the fund, provided further details on the investment performance. The Pension Fund Investment Performance Report indicated that while the fund underperformed its benchmark for the quarter, longer-term returns were positive.

Pension fund performance chart showing assets, liabilities, and funding level from March 2022 to March 2025.
Pension fund performance chart showing assets, liabilities, and funding level from March 2022 to March 2025.

Catherine Gray, Head of Pensions, Investments and Treasury, noted that the funding level has improved significantly, driven by the reduction in the value of future liabilities. She also presented the 2023-24 Pension Fund Accounts Audit Outcomes Report, highlighting an unmodified audit opinion but noting a red control deficiency regarding journal entries. A manual process has been implemented to address this.

Tom Taylor, Head of Pensions Administration, presented updates on pension administration performance and projects. The Pension Administration Performance Update showed a reduction in outstanding processes and overdue cases. Taylor stated that the aim is to eradicate the backlog by the end of July. He also provided an update on key projects, including the pensions dashboard and the McLeod Remedy update. Councillor Patrick Hall, Chair of Pension Fund Panel, requested a written update on the McLeod Remedy before the next meeting in September.

The panel also discussed governance and risk, with Taylor noting that risk 27, the administration risk regarding software, has been uprated due to delays from the software provider in delivering the McLeod remedy. The London CIV Update was also presented, with Gray noting that just under 60% of the assets are in the pool.