The Trustee Board manages over £500 million of assets which are invested across a range of investments. These investments have been carefully selected to achieve moderate growth, at minimal risk, whilst ensuring there is adequate cashflow to meet the costs of running the Scheme and paying benefits to members. These investments are decided upon and managed by the Investment sub-committee who are supported and guided by the Scheme’s investment consultants, XPS. Through prudent management of the Scheme’s assets, the Trustee Board has achieved a growth in Scheme funding over the past ten years from a position where it was funded at c. 92% (on a technical provisions basis) to its current position where it is now funded at around 110% (and this despite recent upheavals in markets caused by the coronavirus epidemic and the uncertainties surrounding Brexit). You can find an update on the Scheme's latest funding position in our most recent Summary Funding Statement.
However, it is important that the Trustee continues to stress test the Scheme’s investment strategy and ensures it remains appropriate for changing circumstances. Following the Company’s decision to close the Scheme to the future build-up of benefits, the Trustee Board undertook a review of the Scheme’s investments to make sure they continued to meet their objectives and, as a result, made a number of changes to reduce exposure to equities and low return gilts and to move funds into secure and income-generating investments.
The investment portfolio, as at 1 January 2022, looks as follows:
Investment Type (Manager)
|
Strategic Asset Allocation
|
Buy & Maintain Corporate Bonds (Insight)
|
40%
|
Liability Driven Investment – LDI (Insight)
|
35%
|
Multi-Sector Credit Fund (Blackrock)
|
10%
|
Liquidity Fund (Aviva secured income fund)
|
4%
|
Asset Backed Private Credit (Aberdeen)
|
4%
|
UK Equities (Blackrock)
|
3%
|
Global Equities (Blackrock)
|
4%
|
Total
|
100%
|