Issue - meetings

Committee are asked to agree the criteria set out in 2.4 to 2.6 of the report to allow a review to be carried out of the Council’s existing medium term investment portfolio.

The Committee considered a report on the Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) Policy for Current and Future Medium-term Investments that sought agreement from the Committee to:

1.    Instruct Arlingclose, the Council’s investment advisors, to carry out a review of the Council’s existing medium term investment portfolio and provide an orderly timeline for the diversification of our existing portfolio in order to meet the proposed new criteria that is to be presented to Council on 20 April 2023,

2.    Confirm that all future medium term investments will be expected to follow the ESG Policy; and

3.    Confirm that where a managed fund can show that 85% or more of the companies included in that fund comply with the Council’s ESG Policy, then overall that fund will have been deemed to comply with the policy and no further action on diversification would be required.

The Committee were advised that Officers would require a steer from Members as to which type of company they would or would not want the Council to invest in. Officers would need to then look at the possible effect on the Council’s finances, if a decision was taken to move money away from a company that it currently invested in, and report back to Members.

The Committee resolved to agree the recommendations as outlined in the report.