It was a tremendous honour as Chair of the East Sussex Pension Fund Committee, to pick up, with our Head of Pensions, Sian Kunert, the prestigious Local Government Pension Scheme Fund (LGPS) of the Year. award at the 2021 Local Authority Pension Fund (LAPF) Investment Awards dinner in London on Tuesday.
The East Sussex Pension Fund was praised by the judging panel, who commented: “Not only was the Fund’s investment performance excellent, the judges were especially impressed by our winner’s approach to governance, administration, and collaboration.”
In addition, the Fund was highly commended in the Best Climate Change Strategy category, reflecting the work it has done to change and develop its strategy, processes and reporting in relation to climate and other environmental, social and governance risks.
Winning the LGPS Fund of the Year award is a fantastic achievement and testament to the hard work of our officers and advisors in managing the Fund.
As a Committee, with our officers and advisors, supported by the Pension Fund Board, we have done a great deal of work and thinking about the challenges and opportunities presented by climate change, sustainability, and the energy transition. This has helped us to better align the Fund’s portfolio with these themes, allowing it to play a role both in providing climate solutions, as well as protecting the interests of our local scheme members.
Being highly commended for our Climate Change Strategy is a welcome acknowledgement of this ongoing work and the substantial changes that we have made.
I have found performing the role of Chair of the ESPF Committee for the last three years a very stimulating and positive way of contributing to the well-being of local people.
NOTES:
The East Sussex Pension Fund has £4.6 billion in assets, is part of the national Local Government Pension Scheme and is administered by East Sussex County Council. There are currently around 130 employers within the Fund and over 78,000 members.
The LAPF Investments Awards were established in 2015 and have come to be recognised as a mark of excellence in the field of pensions provision in the Local Government Pension Scheme.
