A report by the Director of Finance provided a summary of the Merseyside Pension Fund (MPF) policy on the exercise of shareholder voting rights, in response to the resolution passed by Council on 14 February 2011 (Minute No. 95 refers).

Councillor J Green reported that he had received a letter from Mr John Brace in respect of the report and that the Director of Finance would be responding to it.

RESOLVED: That

(1)  Cabinet notes the policy on responsible ownership which is contained in the MPF current Statement of Investment Principles; and welcomes the statement in paragraph 3.3 of this report concerning the voting record of MPF at UK Company AGMs;

(2)  Cabinet further notes the report of the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum 2010, but notes that its consideration of executive pay is limited to linking bonuses to non-financial business performance such as health and safety; and

(3)  Cabinet requests the Director of Finance, working with the Pensions Committee, to review the Statement of Investment Principles to consider how they might be strengthened “to actively pursue a policy of restraint and social responsibility in relation to the pay and bonuses of senior executives of the companies that it invests in”; as requested by Council on 14 February 2011.