The public sector’s approach to investing public funds was transformed in 2021 with the creation of the States Investment Board, taking such direct responsibilities away from politicians. But returns have been criticised, with Deputy Jennifer Strachan claiming that the funds are performing many millions of pounds behind benchmark returns. In response the Policy & Resources Committee has backed the approach its predecessors introduced in 2022.
The States has more than £3bn of financial assets, £2.3bn of which is held on behalf of the Social Insurance & Long-Term Care Funds and the Public Servants Pension Scheme.
Scrutiny inherited a review, the first for a decade, from its predecessors. It has said it intends to look into issues such as the current political oversight and governance of States Investments, the risk-reward appetite, and the levels of investment into social and environmental prospects, as well as financial performance. It invited public comments in the summer.
‘I’m a little surprised at the timing of all of this, after all there’s an active SMC review of the SIB going on which we inherited from the last committee, we’ve undertaken a call for evidence, spoken to various stakeholders and Deputy Strachan responded to that consultation,’ said Scrutiny president Deputy Andy Sloan.
‘We’re in the process of drafting the report as we speak. To the substantive point, I mustn’t pre-empt the findings of our report, but governance of the SIB and the issues of the current investment strategy, its objectives, achieved returns and overall costs are central components of our review.
‘It’s a complicated issue, sadly not one for a soundbite, and we will set out our views on all these points in due course.’