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Warwickshire Pension Fund Investments

Edward Jones made this Freedom of Information request to Warwickshire County Council This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

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Dear Warwickshire County Council,

I am researching the fossil fuel investments made by UK Local Government Pension Schemes (LGPS) for an upcoming report by UK Divest. On publication, the report is likely to receive substantial interest from press and the elected representatives sitting on pension fund committees across the UK. Therefore can you please ensure the investment data you provide is as accurate as possible as our analysis will be fundamentally informed by it.

To complete this research, I require data on each investment that was held by Warwickshire Pension Fund on 31 March 2022, or the nearest possible date:

1. Investment names. Please provide the names of all investments held by the pension fund. For direct investments, please provide the names of individual investments such as specific stocks, bonds, and real estate units. For indirect investments (i.e. those held via a third party), please provide the names of investment vehicles, such as specific mutual funds, exchange traded funds (ETFs) and real estate investment trusts (REITs) and anything else. Note we do not need to know what each indirect investment vehicle invests in as we will determine this in the data analysis.

2. Investment identifiers. For listed investments (i.e. those traded on public exchanges), such as bonds and equities, please provide the International Securities Identifier Number (ISIN). For any investments that do not have an ISIN number, such as some alternative assets, please provide the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI). If an investment does not have an identifier, please provide an explanation.

3. Asset types. The asset type for each investment as reported by the pension fund, such as: real estate, cash, private equity, listed equity, sovereign bonds, corporate bonds etc.

4. Investment managers. The name of the entity which is responsible for the day-to-day management of each investment. For example, this could be the name of the entity which manages a specific investment fund such as Baillie Gifford, Legal & General, UBS etc. Note we do not need to know who is responsible for the overall governance of the LGPS or any pools it might belong to.

5. Investment values. The market value of each investment in pounds sterling (£) on 31 March 2022 or the nearest possible date. And please also give the total value of the pension fund.

We have created a read-only Google Sheet as a template for how we would like the data presented when you answer this request. You can view and download it here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1...

If possible, please use this Google Sheet when answering. Please note there are two tabs - 'summary' and 'data'. Please fill in both tabs. Using the template would help us accurately analyse the data provided.

If you respond promptly and to a satisfactory standard, we will willingly share our analysis with you prior to publication of our report, so you have the chance to comment and benchmark your pension fund against other UK LGPS.

I would like to receive this information in unlocked excel sheets without protected cells (.xls). If you have to password protect the excel sheets, please also provide the password to them. When considering the request for this data in excel format, please refer to Innes v Information Commissioner [2014] EWCA Civ 1086 (i), which allows a requester to express a preference for communication by a particular means, specifically: "an applicant's right to choose to have information provided to him in electronic form extends to a right to choose the software format in which it is embodied." (ii)

Please note:

Many public authorities release their contracts, minutes, and other information of interactions with private vendors in line with the Freedom of Information Act. The exemption for commercial interest under the Act (section 43) is a qualified exemption, which means information can only be withheld if it is in the public's interest. The public have an interest in knowing what the Pension Fund is investing in, the terms of contracts and the minutes of meeting with public authorities, whether or not public money changes hands immediately.

If you are relying on section 41 (the exemption for legal breach of confidence) then I would like to know the following:

* When these confidentiality agreements were agreed
* All correspondence and email in which these confidentiality agreements were discussed
* The precise wording of the confidentiality agreements.

I ask these questions because guidance issued by both the Lord Chancellor (draft guidance on FOI implementation) and the Office of Government Commerce (Model terms and conditions for goods and services) specifically state that public authorities should not enter into these types of agreements; they go directly against the spirit of the laws of disclosure. I would also point to the Information Commissioner's guidance on accepting blanket commercial confidentiality agreements: 'Unless confidentiality clauses are necessary or reasonable, there is a real risk that, in the event of a complaint, the Commissioner would order disclosure in any case.' (iii)

Finally, within the law of confidence there is also a public interest test. Therefore, the information should be disclosed in full. If any parts are redacted, they must be for information that can be proven to be a legal breach of confidence in court, and only then where secrecy can be shown to be in the public interest. These are difficult positions to argue when public money is at stake or where a public authority is offering a private company a monopoly to charge its stakeholders.

I reserve the right to appeal your decision to withhold any information or to charge excessive fees, and understand that under the act, I am entitled to a response within 20 working days. I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing that you have received this request.

Yours faithfully,

Edward Jones

(i) Innes v Information Commissioner [2014] EWCA Civ 1086 http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/...

(ii) Section 11 FOIA and the Form of a Request
https://panopticonblog.com/2014/08/01/se...

(iii) 'Freedom of Information Awareness Guidance 5: Commercial Interests' Office of the Information Commissioner, Page 10 https://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/pr...

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County Council.
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will contact you.
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Information request
Our reference: 8852532

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Dear Mr Jones

Freedom of Information Act 2000

Thank you for your request for information that was received on 21 March
2023. We are dealing with your request under the Freedom of Information
Act 2000

Under our normal statutory requirements we are required to provide you
with a response within 20 working days of the receipt of your request.
Therefore we aim to send a response by 18 April 2023.

In some case, a fee may be payable. If we decide a fee is payable, we will
send you a fee notice and we will require you to pay the fee before
proceeding with your request.

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 may restrict the release of some or
all of the information you have requested. We will carry out an assessment
and if any exemptions apply to some or all of the information then we
might not provide that information to you. We will inform you if this is
the case and advise you of your right to request an internal review and to
complain to the Information Commissioner's Office.

We will also advise you if we cannot provide you with the information
requested for any other reason together with the reason(s) why and details
of how you may appeal (if appropriate).

Kind regards

Jonathan Sheward
Information Rights Officer

Information Management
Warwickshire County Council
Shire Hall
Warwick
CV34 4RL
Tel: 01926 413716

NOTE: Please do not edit the subject line when replying to this email.

WCC Pension fund data end Feb 2023.xlsx

118K Download View as HTML
Response all information to be supplied.pdf

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Information request
Our reference: 8852532

Dear Mr Jones,

Thank you for your request for information received on 21 March 2023.

Please find attached our response to your request.

Kind regards,

Zofia Gilroy
Information Rights Officer

Information Management
Warwickshire County Council
Shire Hall
Warwick
CV34 4RL
Tel: 01926 413716

NOTE: Please do not edit the subject line when replying to this email.

Dear Warwickshire County Council,

Many thanks for your response and help with this.

I am hoping that this can be dealt with as a clarification, and not as an internal review, to ensure a quicker response.
However, if considering this message as clarification is not possible, please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Warwickshire County Council's handling of my FOI request 'Warwickshire Pension Fund Investments.

There are a few issues with the data you provided.

1. The date of the provided data. We have requested data for the period "31 March 2022, or the nearest
possible date" the nearest possible date being required if the data for 31 March 2022 is not available. You have provided data for February 2023. Helpfully all other researched LGPS provided data for that period. Can you please provide data for March 2022 as well?

You have helpfully provided explanations as to why you are not able to provide us with most of the identifiers. However, we would like to raise some arguments in that matter. In your response, you provide ISINs identifiers for some of the investments. However, for investments managed by HarbourVest, Partners Group
Border to Coast Asset Management and Legal & General you do not provide ISIN or LEI identifiers.

We really need either the ISIN or LEI identifiers for all investments to help us accurately analyse the data and ensure there are no mistakes.
Please note that other pension funds from Border to Coast Pool have provided both ISINs and LEIs for all investments (e.g. East Riding Pension Fund https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/e... or Lincolnshire Pension Fund https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/l...). I can provide many more examples of other pension funds providing both LEIs and ISINs on request. The template spreadsheet we provided in the original FOI request also shows exactly what information we want: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1...

Below we have provided some examples of the identifiers that can be obtained and an argument for why we ask the Pension Fund to proceed with that search.

L&G Emerging Markets Equity ESG Future Core Fund - ISIN - IE00BJVH6W62

L&G Emerging Markets Equity Index Fund - ISIN - IE000EQ5ST59

You say: “As PMC investment (pooled) funds are provided through an insurance policy (i.e. they are Life funds), there is no UK statutory or regulatory requirement for us to register our funds. Our PMC Pooled Funds are managed internally and are not listed on any publicly traded exchange, therefore unique identifiers for these funds do not exist. For example, RICs (Reuters Instrument Code), SEDOLs (Stock Exchange Daily Official List as was) and ISINs (International Securities Identification Number) identifiers are normally only issued by the Exchange for securities listed on their exchange.”

Our answer: We understand that there is no requirement for you to register any identifiers for these investments however as you can see there can be two or more investments with the same name. Therefore the identifiers we require are to ensure the full accuracy of our research.

HarbourVest PARTNERS IX- CAYMAN BUYOUT FUND L.P - ISIN - GG00BR30MJ80

You say: “The fund is structured as a private mandate so no public codes are needed or required.”

Our answer: The fund is part of a bigger portfolio and is helpfully listed as one of the top 10 holdings within HarbourVest Global Private Equity HVPE, therefore an identifier for this investment exists.

If necessary, if the information is not held by the investment managers, can you request that they (or can you) use this LEI lookup tool to find the identifier information for the remaining investments: https://www.lei-lookup.com/record/ The problem with us using this or any other tool is that it is easy to make mistakes as many investments have several variations/similar names. So ideally someone who is familiar with the pension funds investments would do this to prevent mistakes and ensure we have the correct identifier for each investment. This would really help us accurately analyse the data provided, and fairly portray to what extent the pension fund invests in fossil fuels.

3. Investment values. In the spreadsheet you have helpfully provided the total values seem to be missing the relevant multiplayer. In your annual report, you stated the value of your fund at £ 2,781,500,000. Can you please confirm that the values you will provide for March 2022 need to be multiplied by a million?

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

Yours faithfully,
Edward Jones

Dear Mr Jones,

Thank you for your mail.

I am currently waiting for advice from colleagues who are responsible for
the Pension Fund to see if we will be able to look at your queries and
points raised by way of clarifications, and will get back to you as soon
as possible.

Yours sincerely

Jonathan Sheward

Information Rights Officer
Warwickshire County Council
Information Management
Shire Hall
Warwick
CV34 4RL

Tel no: 01926 413716
E-mail: [1][email address]

From: Edward Jones <[FOI #961745 email]>
Sent: 24 May 2023 12:55
To: Info Rights <[Warwickshire County Council request email]>
Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - Warwickshire
Pension Fund Investments

Dear Warwickshire County Council,

Many thanks for your response and help with this.

I am hoping that this can be dealt with as a clarification, and not as an
internal review, to ensure a quicker response.
However, if considering this message as clarification is not possible,
please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information
reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Warwickshire County
Council's handling of my FOI request 'Warwickshire Pension Fund
Investments.

There are a few issues with the data you provided.

1. The date of the provided data. We have requested data for the period
"31 March 2022, or the nearest
possible date" the nearest possible date being required if the data for 31
March 2022 is not available. You have provided data for February 2023.
Helpfully all other researched LGPS provided data for that period. Can you
please provide data for March 2022 as well?

2. Investment identifiers. For listed investments (i.e. those traded on
public exchanges), such as bonds and equities, please provide the
International Securities Identifier Number (ISIN). For any investments
that do not have an ISIN number, such as some alternative assets, please
provide the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI). If an investment does not have
an identifier, please provide an explanation."

You have helpfully provided explanations as to why you are not able to
provide us with most of the identifiers. However, we would like to raise
some arguments in that matter. In your response, you provide ISINs
identifiers for some of the investments. However, for investments managed
by HarbourVest, Partners Group
Border to Coast Asset Management and Legal & General you do not provide
ISIN or LEI identifiers.

We really need either the ISIN or LEI identifiers for all investments to
help us accurately analyse the data and ensure there are no mistakes.
Please note that other pension funds from Border to Coast Pool have
provided both ISINs and LEIs for all investments (e.g. East Riding Pension
Fund
[2]https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlo...
or Lincolnshire Pension Fund
[3]https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlo...).
I can provide many more examples of other pension funds providing both
LEIs and ISINs on request. The template spreadsheet we provided in the
original FOI request also shows exactly what information we want:
[4]https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlo......

Below we have provided some examples of the identifiers that can be
obtained and an argument for why we ask the Pension Fund to proceed with
that search.

L&G Emerging Markets Equity ESG Future Core Fund - ISIN - IE00BJVH6W62

L&G Emerging Markets Equity Index Fund - ISIN - IE000EQ5ST59

You say: 'As PMC investment (pooled) funds are provided through an
insurance policy (i.e. they are Life funds), there is no UK statutory or
regulatory requirement for us to register our funds. Our PMC Pooled Funds
are managed internally and are not listed on any publicly traded exchange,
therefore unique identifiers for these funds do not exist. For example,
RICs (Reuters Instrument Code), SEDOLs (Stock Exchange Daily Official List
as was) and ISINs (International Securities Identification Number)
identifiers are normally only issued by the Exchange for securities listed
on their exchange.'

Our answer: We understand that there is no requirement for you to register
any identifiers for these investments however as you can see there can be
two or more investments with the same name. Therefore the identifiers we
require are to ensure the full accuracy of our research.

HarbourVest PARTNERS IX- CAYMAN BUYOUT FUND L.P - ISIN - GG00BR30MJ80

You say: 'The fund is structured as a private mandate so no public codes
are needed or required.'

Our answer: The fund is part of a bigger portfolio and is helpfully listed
as one of the top 10 holdings within HarbourVest Global Private Equity
HVPE, therefore an identifier for this investment exists.

If necessary, if the information is not held by the investment managers,
can you request that they (or can you) use this LEI lookup tool to find
the identifier information for the remaining investments:
[5]https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlo...
The problem with us using this or any other tool is that it is easy to
make mistakes as many investments have several variations/similar names.
So ideally someone who is familiar with the pension funds investments
would do this to prevent mistakes and ensure we have the correct
identifier for each investment. This would really help us accurately
analyse the data provided, and fairly portray to what extent the pension
fund invests in fossil fuels.

3. Investment values. In the spreadsheet you have helpfully provided the
total values seem to be missing the relevant multiplayer. In your annual
report, you stated the value of your fund at £ 2,781,500,000. Can you
please confirm that the values you will provide for March 2022 need to be
multiplied by a million?

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on
the Internet at this address:
[6]https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlo...

Yours faithfully,
Edward Jones

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[FOI #961745 email]

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End March 2022 portfolio valuation WPF.xlsx

16K Download View as HTML

Dear Mr Jones,

Further to your email of 24 May 2023, please now find the Excel document
"End March 2022 portfolio valuation WPF" attached to this email.

Please accept our apologies for not providing this information for March
2022 in our original response with information for 2023 being provided in
error.

In respect of the other points that you have raised, we advise that the
remainder of the information that we provided is correct. Therefore we
have no amendments to advise on in respect of this.

We would also advise and ask you to bear in mind that some of the other
councils are using different products than us, and so would state that it
is unfair to make comparisons.

If you are still unhappy with our response to your request, and wish this
to be reconsidered under an internal review, please advise further on this
and we will refer your request on to our Legal Services Team to undertake
this.

Yours sincerely

Jonathan Sheward

Information Rights Officer
Warwickshire County Council
Information Management
Shire Hall
Warwick
CV34 4RL

Tel no: 01926 413716

E-mail: [1][email address]