Employee representatives on the Pensions Committee are safeguarding the interests of 40,000 EAPF members.
Do you know who represents you on the Pensions Committee? Currently there are 5 EA active member representatives and 1 shadow member appointed to the Pensions Committee. We have the responsibility of ensuring the Pension Fund is run properly and that members’ benefits are secure. This all has to be in line with the legalities surrounding pensions.
We are (from left to right) Ian Brindley, Greg Black, Veronica James, Danielle Ashton, Will Lidbetter and Colin Chiverton. We have a range of backgrounds and experience, and our current roles are in national and area teams. None of us has a background in pensions or finance. We carry out our responsibilities on the Pensions Committee alongside our day to day work.
Our responsibilities include steering and strategically managing the investment of the fund’s assets, whilst taking advice from our professional advisers; making sure the fund is administered in accordance with the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) rules; ensuring that the Fund governance is strong; and acting in the best interests of Members.
Danielle outlines how she represents you:
"For me it is understanding and putting forward at meetings what matters to members including concerns about impact on their pension of maternity leave and part time working, and helping to signpost where they can get more information."
Will explains why he enjoys the role:
"I love bringing my own data expertise and an interest in personal finance to this group. As a Unison rep, it’s one of the ways I help support people, and being part of our drive to make the fund support a sustainable future is very rewarding.
Responsible Investment is high on our list of priorities ensuring environmental, social and governance issues are taken into account in the investment strategies. Climate change is high on the agenda and we have a Pension Fund policy on addressing the impacts of climate change with a series of investment principles. With this at the forefront Ian and Greg have been part of an initiative to attend a number of AGMs this year to ask company boards how they were taking into account the physical risks of climate change. Ian explains, "I’m passionate about using the power of our pension fund to influence companies to do the right thing."
Appointment to the Pensions Committee is initially for a 3 year term but this can be extended on a rolling 3 year basis for up to 10 years in total. When taking on the role we commit to a LGPS initial training programme and ongoing training to ensure we are able to evaluate and challenge the advice we receive, and do the best we can for our colleagues.
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