Welcome to the annual report of the London Borough of Hounslow Pension Fund 

I am pleased to present the Annual Report of the London Borough of Hounslow Pension Fund, on behalf of the Pension Fund Panel. This report covers the period from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. 

The London Borough of Hounslow Pension Fund is part of the national Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) and is administered by London Borough of Hounslow to provide pension benefits for its members.  

Highlights 

Last year I had mentioned that the Fund had seen a decrease in value of 3% due to global and domestic headwinds that affected most funds alike. I am pleased to say that this year the fund has bounced back with an increase in the value of the assets from £1,212m at 31 March 2023/24. to £1,332m at 31 March 2023. This is an increase of c10% on the previous year and marks one of the highest points that the Fund’s investments have achieved. This was largely because of more favourable economic and market conditions toward the end of the fiscal year and the perception that the favourable conditions would continue resulting in lower inflation and a more stable economic environment.  Diversification has also protected the fund from some volatility while benefitting from opportunities, resulting in a positive return.  

The Fund continues to focus on delivering value for money to our members. As part of this commitment, the fund reviewed its Strategic Asset Allocation during the year to better align investments with the returns required to keep the funding level above 100% following the triennial valuation in 2022. More information of this review can be found in the report. 

This year also saw pensioners receive an increase in pension payments by 10.1% in April 2023, and 6.7% in April 2024 in line with the inflation protection. This increase is based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) on 30 September in the previous year and is determined by the government’s Pensions Increase (Review) order. 

An increasing number of members have signed up to use the online ‘MyPension’ portal, from 6,148 registered members in March 2023 to 6,729 in March 2024. Members are able to update their personal details as well as view and download pension fund documents like their annual benefit statement. We are also working with the administrators of our fund (West Yorkshire Pension Fund) to ensure that the required technology and systems are in place to make the pensions dashboard programme a success by our “connect by” date of 31 May 2025. Updates will follow in due course. 

The financial statements show the financial position of the fund on a particular day (31 March 2024) and the money which has gone in and out of the scheme between the 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024. The financial accounts can be found in more detail in this report.  

Hounslow has a long-standing commitment to being a responsible investor, as such we take a strong interest in how companies are run and exercise our voting rights at the AGMs and EGMs of companies that we are shareholders of.  

The Pension Fund Panel worked collaboratively with the Local Pension Board, Fund Officers, and its partners to ensure the robust delivery and oversight of the fund’s activities and decisions, and we look forward to their continued input in this area. 

Looking Forward 

There are significant deliverables on the horizon for the year ahead and beyond. 

The next triennial valuation will be carried out at end of March 2025. Pre-valuation meetings with the Fund’s Actuary are set to commence in early October 2024. There is also the ongoing expectation of the Government to transfer all listed assets into a pool by the end of March 2025.  

Assessing the Fund’s compliance with the Pension Regulator’s (TPR) general code of practice (GCOP), is also a sizeable task that involves a detailed assessment of all aspects of the Fund.  

Continued preparation for connection to the new Pensions Dashboard Programme will be a major administration focus along with the ongoing implementation of the McCloud remedy.  

I would like to thank fellow Panel members, the Pension Board, Officers and all those involved in the running of the Fund for their ongoing support and commitment to the London Borough of Hounslow Pension Fund. 

 

Cllr Jagdish Sharma  

Chair of the Pension Fund Panel 

Fund account

2022/23		2023/24
£m		£m
	Dealings with members, employers and others directly involved in the Fund
	Contributions
36.4	From employers	35.0
10.8	From employees	11.7
5.0	Individual transfers in from other pension funds	7.0
52.2	Total	53.7
	Benefits
(38.8)	Pensions	(42.5)
(10.5)	Commutation, lump sum retirement and death benefits	(8.9)
	Payments to and on account of leavers
(6.3)	Individual transfers out to other pension funds	(5.9)
(0.3)	Refunds to members leaving service	(0.3)
(55.9)	Total	(57.6)
(3.7)	Net withdrawals from dealings with members	(3.9)
(6.0)	Management expenses	(6.8)
(9.7)	Net withdrawals including fund management expenses	(9.7)
	Returns on investments
28.4	Investment income	33.7
(57.2)	Profit and loss on disposal of investments and change in the market value of investments	95.2
(28.8)	Net returns on investments	128.9
(38.5)	Net increase/(decrease) in the net assets available for benefits during the year	119.2
1,251.3	Opening net assets of the Fund	1,212.8
1,212.8	Closing net assets of the Fund	1,332.0

Net assets statement as at 31 March 2024

31 March 2023		31 March 2024
£m		£m
	Investment assets
380.3	Equities	268.6
782.2	Pooled investment vehicles	1,007.6
0.7	Private equity	0.4
0.2	Long term investment	0.2
8.0	Cash (money market fund)	12.7
	Other investment balances:
3.4	Investment income due	2.7
28.6	Cash deposits	32.0
1,203.4	Total	1,324.2
	Investment liabilities
(0.1)	Amounts payable for purchase of investments	-
1,203.3	Net value of investments assets	1,324.2
0.2	Long term debtors	0.2
10.9	Current assets	9.9
(1.6)	Current liabilities	(2.3)
1,212.8	Net assets of the Fund available to fund benefits at the period end	1,332.0

Equities

31 March 2023		31 March 2024
£m		£m
380.3	UK & Overseas Investments (listed)	268.6
380.3	Total	268.6

Top 10 equity holdings

The top 10 equity holdings of the London Borough of Hounslow Pension Fund as at 31 March 2024
	Bid Value	% of Total Fund	% of Equities
Company:	£m	%	%
Relx Plc	26.0	2.0	9.7
Compass Group Plc	25.9	1.9	9.7
Next Plc	25.3	1.9	9.4
Astra Zeneca Plc	25.1	1.9	9.3
3i Group Plc	22.3	1.7	8.3
Standard Chartered Plc	15.9	1.2	5.9
London Stock Exchange Group Plc	15.1	1.1	5.6
Rio Tinto Ltd	14.3	1.1	5.3
Halma Plc	11.3	0.9	4.2
Pearson Plc	11.2	0.8	4.2
	192.4	14.5	71.6