Carbon Bubble Risk, Pension Fund Fiduciary Duty & Risks To Local Taxpayers Through LGPS Underfunding and Exposure to Investment Losses in Defined Benefit Schemes

The request was partially successful.

Dear Camden Borough Council,

The Bank of England, HSBC, Citi Bank, Mercers, and the World Bank are clear that climate change is a major and growing financial issue. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney has said that climate change poses physical, liability and transition risks, which are all increasing.

Therefore, carbon bubble risk is now a clear material financial risk, and it is in the best interests of pension fund members to have regard to and actively manage, financial risks posed by climate change.

Additionally, as the individual ensuring compliance with SIP documents and signing off on the pension fund annual accounts, the s151 officer has a fiduciary duty to local taxpayers - who would ultimately be required to bail out the defined benefit LGPS fund, in the event of significant losses suffered in carbon markets, should the LGPS fund not manage carbon risk prudently.

We are therefore requesting the Pension Fund/ Committee/ Board would set out the appropriate response of the fund to the following questions:

(1) Please provide the two most recent versions of the Statement of Investment Principles (SIP)
(2) Will the fund be reviewing its SIP documents to pursue best practice and review carbon risk management and investment mandates in advance of LGPS pooling? If so when?
(3) Please provide current contract and procurement documents for the Investment Adviser(s) to the Pension Fund Committee.
(4) Please provide current procurement and contract documentation for the external fund manager(s) as set out in investment management agreements.
(5) Please provide a list of compliance breaches identified by the Head of Finance/ s.151 officer and brought to the attention of the Pension Fund Committee, during the last three (3) financial years.
(6) What steps have the Pension Fund Committee and Board taken to address the financial risks posed by climate change?
(7) Since the December 2015 Paris COP agreement, Peabody bankruptcy, and Exxon Mobil downgrade, has the pension fund changed its approach to climate change risks and investment in carbon stocks?
(8) Please provide Pension Fund Committee and Board meeting minutes where climate change, and carbon bubble investment risk was discussed, and minuted 2014 - 2016.
(9) Have you surveyed or formally consulted with your individual members or employers for their views on your ESG policies or practices in the last 10 years?
(10) How much does the fund spend on ESG engagement services and can you give any examples of engagement activities relating to climate change/carbon risk from the last 10 years?

We are asking these questions to understand how/ if UK local authority pensions funds fiduciary duties are being met in regard to climate change related financial risks - and to appraise financial risks to taxpayers in situations where fiduciary duty to manage carbon investment risk has been breached.

Yours faithfully,

Joel M Benjamin

Cynthia Coleman, Camden Borough Council

1 Attachment

Camden Council - Information request (FOI/EIR) - Finance

Our reference: 20781044

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Dear Mr. Benjamin

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - INFORMATION REQUEST

Thank you for your recent Freedom of Information request received on 28
October 2016

You requested information on:

The Bank of England, HSBC, Citi Bank, Mercers, and the World Bank are
clear that climate change is a major and growing financial issue. Bank of
England Governor Mark Carney has said that climate change poses physical,
liability and transition risks, which are all increasing.

Therefore, carbon bubble risk is now a clear material financial risk, and
it is in the best interests of pension fund members to have regard to and
actively manage, financial risks posed by climate change.

Additionally, as the individual ensuring compliance with SIP documents and
signing off on the pension fund annual accounts, the s151 officer has a
fiduciary duty to local taxpayers - who would ultimately be required to
bail out the defined benefit LGPS fund, in the event of significant losses
suffered in carbon markets, should the LGPS fund not manage carbon risk
prudently.

We are therefore requesting the Pension Fund/ Committee/ Board would set
out the appropriate response of the fund to the following questions:

(1) Please provide the two most recent versions of the Statement of
Investment Principles (SIP)
(2) Will the fund be reviewing its SIP documents to pursue best practice
and review carbon risk management and investment mandates in advance of
LGPS pooling? If so when?
(3) Please provide current contract and procurement documents for the
Investment Adviser(s) to the Pension Fund Committee.
(4) Please provide current procurement and contract documentation for the
external fund manager(s) as set out in investment management agreements.
(5) Please provide a list of compliance breaches identified by the Head of
Finance/ s.151 officer and brought to the attention of the Pension Fund
Committee, during the last three (3) financial years.
(6) What steps have the Pension Fund Committee and Board taken to address
the financial risks posed by climate change?
(7) Since the December 2015 Paris COP agreement, Peabody bankruptcy, and
Exxon Mobil downgrade, has the pension fund changed its approach to
climate change risks and investment in carbon stocks?
(8) Please provide Pension Fund Committee and Board meeting minutes where
climate change, and carbon bubble investment risk was discussed, and
minuted 2014 - 2016.
(9) Have you surveyed or formally consulted with your individual members
or employers for their views on your ESG policies or practices in the last
10 years?
(10) How much does the fund spend on ESG engagement services and can you
give any examples of engagement activities relating to climate
change/carbon risk from the last 10 years?

We are asking these questions to understand how/ if UK local authority
pensions funds fiduciary duties are being met in regard to climate change
related financial risks - and to appraise financial risks to taxpayers in
situations where fiduciary duty to manage carbon investment risk has been
breached.

Your request is being dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 and will be answered within twenty working days.

For your information, the Act defines a number of exemptions which may
prevent release of the information you have requested. There will be an
assessment and if any of the exemption categories apply then it will not
be released. You will be informed if this is the case.

If the information you request was obtained from or relates to a third
party then they may be consulted prior to a decision being taken on
whether or not to release the information to you.

In some cases there may a fee payable for the information requested. This
will be considered and you will be informed of the fee payable if this is
the case. In this event the fee must be paid before the information is
processed and released. The 20 day time limit for responses is put on hold
until receipt of the payment.

If you have any queries about this request do not hesitate to contact me.
Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.

Yours sincerely

Information & Records Management

Email: [1][Camden Borough Council request email]
Phone: 020 7974 3669

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Camden Borough Council request email]

Cynthia Coleman, Camden Borough Council

1 Attachment

 

Camden Council - Information request (FOI/EIR) - Finance

Our reference: 20781044

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Mr. Benjamin,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - INFORMATION REQUEST
 
Thank you for your recent Freedom of Information request received on 28
October 2016.  You requested information for a list of compliance breaches
identified by the Head of Finance/ s.151 officer and brought to the
attention of the Pension Fund Committee, during the last three (3)
financial years.
 
From our preliminary assessment, it is clear that we will not be able to
answer your request without further clarification. 
 
Therefore, in order to identify and locate the information you have asked
for please can clarify what type of compliance issue you are referring
to. 
 
Once you have clarified/refine your request, we will be able to begin to
process your request. If we do not receive clarification of your enquiry
within the next  six weeks (i.e. by the 29 December 2016), your request
will be considered to have lapsed. (Under section 1(3) of the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA), a public authority need not comply with a request
unless further information reasonably required to locate the information
is supplied).
 
Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.
 
The 20 working-day time limit for a response to your enquiry is put on
hold until receipt of the clarification.
 
Yours sincerely

Cynthia Coleman
Information and Records Management Officer

Email: [1][Camden Borough Council request email]
Phone: 0207 9743669

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Camden Borough Council request email]

Dear Cynthia Coleman,

With regard to the request to clarify what is meant by a "reported breach" of fiduciary duty means - this should be interpeted to mean the LGPS funds responsibility to maintain a log of all breaches under the LGPS regulations and wider pension law.

Where a breach has occurred, it should be identified as either an area of non-compliance under the LGPS Regulation, a breach under Pension Law as defined within section 13 of the 2004 Pension Act or the Pension Regulator’s Code of Practice 14.

As per the following guide for the Merseyside Pension Fund - "the identification, management and reporting of breaches is important. It is a requirement of the Code of Practice; failure to report a breach without “reasonable excuse” is a civil offence that can result in civil penalties.

https://mpfmembers.org.uk/pdf/breachespo...

Yours sincerely,

Joel M Benjamin

Cynthia Coleman, Camden Borough Council

5 Attachments

Camden Council - Information request (FOI/EIR) - Finance

Our reference: 20781044

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Mr. Benjamin

Re: Freedom of Information Act 2000

Following receipt of clarification of your initial enquiry 17 November
2016, please find attach our response to the requested information.

If you are unhappy with the way your request has been processed, then you
have the right to issue a complaint. If you wish to issue a complaint and
require an internal review, please set out in writing your grounds of
appeal (within 2 months of this correspondence) and email this to
[1][Camden Borough Council request email], quoting the reference number. 

 

Please do not write directly to the officer you received the email
response from, as this may result in a delay of your complaint being
processed.

Yours sincerely

Cynthia Coleman
Information and Records Management Officer

Email: [2][Camden Borough Council request email]
Phone: 0207 9743669
 
 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Camden Borough Council request email]
2. mailto:[Camden Borough Council request email]

Dear Camden Borough Council,

Thank you for your response dated 12 December. Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Camden Borough Council's handling of my FOI request 'Carbon Bubble Risk, Pension Fund Fiduciary Duty & Risks To Local Taxpayers Through LGPS Underfunding and Exposure to Investment Losses in Defined Benefit Schemes'.

I note that in the Councils FOIA response, the Councils answers to the questions posed, making it nigh on impossible to determine where the answer to one question ended, and the other began.

Firstly, If you could please reproduce the request with a numbered answer to each question for the purposes of clarity. I can find no specific reference to Q6, Q7 and Q8, namely:

(6) What steps have the Pension Fund Committee and Board taken to address the financial risks posed by climate change?
(7) Since the December 2015 Paris COP agreement, Peabody bankruptcy, and Exxon Mobil downgrade, has the pension fund changed its approach to climate change risks and investment in carbon stocks?
(8) Please provide Pension Fund Committee and Board meeting minutes where climate change, and carbon bubble investment risk was discussed, and minuted 2014 - 2016.

A list of generic actions taken on behalf of the council by LAPFF to engage with companies on behalf do not discharge fiduciary duty, unless these actions are part of a clearly defined risk management strategy, The Pension Fund Committee having first discussed and outlined a way to manage ESG risks including carbon risk.

With regard to refusal of Q3 and Q4:

(3) Please provide current contract and procurement documents for the Investment Adviser(s) to the Pension Fund Committee.
(4) Please provide current procurement and contract documentation for the external fund manager(s) as set out in investment management agreements.

Council has witheld both contract procurement/ brief documents AND the respective contracts citing sections 41 (information provided in confidence) and 43 (commercial sensitivty) despite the fact that the procurement brief/ framework documents are publicly tendered?

It is widely acknowledged and understood that individuals, businesses and corporations signing contracts with public authorities do so on the basis that such documents are subject to public srutiny, and may be requested by FOIA.

Employees of the council similarly understand that they are serving the public, and their decisions with regard to the use of public funds will be subjected to scrutiny, and can not reasonably be expected to be private, especially at senior management levels.

Despite this knowledge, a creeping practice of commercial secrecy has emerged throughout the public sector, culminating in the use of non-disclosure/ gag clauses in contracts - including contracts signed between public authorities and pension fund managers https://www.ft.com/content/94524a60-5b96...

Such agreements are designed to protect oversize corporate profits and shield the pervasive use of rip-off fees and charges observed throughout the fund management industry, and no public authority acting in the public interest has any business in signing such contracts.

Turning to section 43(2)

The majority of reasons cited by the council justifying non-disclosure related to the financial health of firms transacting with the council, and b) the ability of the council to engage in competitive tender.

This is despite the known fact that failure to benchmark LGPS fund management fees has resulted in some LGPS funds paying 3-4x more in fees than their peers for the same returns and levels of service, precisely because their fund managers fee structures are not pubicly disclosed and are not transparent - meaning that councils are prevent from undertaking effective benchmarking and obtaining best value.

This raises legitmitate public interest questions regarding whose interests the local authority actually serves. Both LGPS members, and the tapaying public lose out when fund managers over charge on fees, and it is only the corporate actors in the City who benefit.

On balance, the risks to the taxpayer accruing through overcharging and resulting underfunding of LGPS funds, and the loss of retirement income from fund members should tip the balance firmly in favour of full disclosure.

Additionally, in terms of financial risk: the pension fund adviser and manager are responsible for steering hundreds of millions of pounds around financial markets, under instructions given by the pension fund committee and s151 officer, on behalf of LGPS fund members.

Crucially, if the council and its fund managers and advisors make mistakes, such as continuing to invest in fossil fuels, resulting in losses - despite prior warnings, then it is local taxpayers, who must then top up the defined benefit LGPS scheme to replenish losses suffered in financial markets - additional taxation for which the general public receive no tangible benefit.

Therefore, the public interest in favour of full disclosure, and for council to reveal the details of the advisors instruction/ fund mandate and investments is substantial - and has significant financial consequences for local taxpayers and LGPS members, whose retirement savings are reduced by overcharging on fees and failure of the council to obtain best value.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/c...

Yours faithfully,

Joel M Benjamin

Cynthia Coleman, Camden Borough Council

1 Attachment

Camden Council - Information request (FOI/EIR) - Finance

Our reference: 20838302

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Mr. Benjamin

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - INFORMATION REQUEST

Thank you for your recent Freedom of Information request received on 4
January 2017

You requested information on:

I am writing to request an internal review of Camden Borough Council's
handling of my FOI request 'Carbon Bubble Risk, Pension Fund Fiduciary
Duty & Risks To Local Taxpayers Through LGPS Underfunding and Exposure to
Investment Losses in Defined Benefit Schemes'.

I note that in the Councils FOIA response, the Councils answers to the
questions posed, making it nigh on impossible to determine where the
answer to one question ended, and the other began.

Firstly, If you could please reproduce the request with a numbered answer
to each question for the purposes of clarity. I can find no specific
reference to Q6, Q7 and Q8, namely:

(6) What steps have the Pension Fund Committee and Board taken to address
the financial risks posed by climate change?
(7) Since the December 2015 Paris COP agreement, Peabody bankruptcy, and
Exxon Mobil downgrade, has the pension fund changed its approach to
climate change risks and investment in carbon stocks?
(8) Please provide Pension Fund Committee and Board meeting minutes where
climate change, and carbon bubble investment risk was discussed, and
minuted 2014 - 2016.

A list of generic actions taken on behalf of the council by LAPFF to
engage with companies on behalf do not discharge fiduciary duty, unless
these actions are part of a clearly defined risk management strategy, The
Pension Fund Committee having first discussed and outlined a way to manage
ESG risks including carbon risk.

With regard to refusal of Q3 and Q4:

(3) Please provide current contract and procurement documents for the
Investment Adviser(s) to the Pension Fund Committee.
(4) Please provide current procurement and contract documentation for the
external fund manager(s) as set out in investment management agreements.

Council has witheld both contract procurement/ brief documents AND the
respective contracts citing sections 41 (information provided in
confidence) and 43 (commercial sensitivty) despite the fact that the
procurement brief/ framework documents are publicly tendered?

It is widely acknowledged and understood that individuals, businesses and
corporations signing contracts with public authorities do so on the basis
that such documents are subject to public srutiny, and may be requested by
FOIA.

Employees of the council similarly understand that they are serving the
public, and their decisions with regard to the use of public funds will be
subjected to scrutiny, and can not reasonably be expected to be private,
especially at senior management levels.

Your request is being dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 and will be answered within twenty working days.

For your information, the Act defines a number of exemptions which may
prevent release of the information you have requested. There will be an
assessment and if any of the exemption categories apply then it will not
be released. You will be informed if this is the case.

If the information you request was obtained from or relates to a third
party then they may be consulted prior to a decision being taken on
whether or not to release the information to you.

In some cases there may a fee payable for the information requested. This
will be considered and you will be informed of the fee payable if this is
the case. In this event the fee must be paid before the information is
processed and released. The 20 day time limit for responses is put on hold
until receipt of the payment.

If you have any queries about this request do not hesitate to contact me.
Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.

Yours sincerely

Information & Records Management

Email: [1][Camden Borough Council request email]
Phone: 020 7974 3669

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Camden Borough Council request email]

Peter Williams, Camden Borough Council

Camden Council - Information request (FOI/EIR) - Finance

Our reference: 20781044

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Mr Benjamin

Freedom of Information Act 2000
Thank you for your request for an internal review of our response to your
information request.  Your appeal will be considered by Andrew Maughan the
Borough Solicitor within the next two weeks.

Yours sincerely

Peter Williams
Information and Records Management Officer

Email: [email address]
Phone: 020 7974 7857

Peter Williams, Camden Borough Council

1 Attachment

Camden Council - Information request (FOI/EIR) - Finance

Our reference: 20781044

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Mr Benjamin

Freedom of Information Act 2000
Your appeal for an internal review has now been considered. Please find ou

Yours sincerely

Peter Williams
Information and Records Management Officer

Email: [email address]
Phone: 020 7974 7857

John Watson,

Hi,          

We have the New Healthcare Industry Email List 2017 with emails, and
complete Contact information

 List Contains: Name, Company's Name, Phone Number, Fax Number, Title,
Email address, Complete Mailing Address, Company revenue, size, Web
address etc.

Our Specialties:

•             Anesthesiologists, Cardiologist, Cardiovascular Disease,
Registered Nurse Anesthetists

•             Chiropractor, Dentist, Dermatology, Diagnostic Radiology,
Doctor of Dental Surgery

•             Doctor of Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine,
Gastroenterology, General Dentistry

•             General Practice, General Surgery, Internal Medicine,
Marriage & Family Therapist,

•             Medical Director, Naturopathic Medicine, Nephrology,
Neurology, Nurse, Nurse Practitioner

•             Obstetrics & Gynecologist, Occupational Therapist, Oncology,
Ophthalmology

•             Optometrist, Orthopedic Surgery, Orthopedics,
Otolaryngology, Pathology, Pediatrician

•             Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Physical Therapist,
Physician, Physician Assistant

•             Podiatry, Psychiatry, Psychologist, Pulmonary Disease,
Radiology, Registered Nurse

•             Social Worker, Speech-Language Pathologist, Surgery,
Urology, Veterinarian, Massage Therapist

 
If this sounds of any value, please specify your requirement in detail so
that I can share a few Healthcare professionals’ business contacts just
for your review.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Kind Regards,
John Watson
Demand Generation Specialist
Our Services Includes : Email Lists | Email / Data Appending | Email
Campaign | Lead Generation | Tele Marketing | Online Media Marketing
|Company Profiling. 

                                                                     If
you do not wish to receive future emails from us, please reply as
“opt-out”