A group of Hertfordshire county councillors have voted in favour of the authority becoming a partner and shareholder in the largest local government pension pool in the UK.

Border to Coast Pensions Partnership (BCPP) was founded in 2018 to manage the pension fund investments of several local councils, guarding total assets of £65 billion as of March 31 last year.

At a meeting of Hertfordshire County Council's Pensions Committee on Thursday, February 5, members were presented with a report outlining the recommendation to join BCPP.

Chairman of the committee, Cllr Tim Williams, said: "I know this is quite a big decision here and I think we've discussed it many times before, we've had many reports and presentations building up to here. The main purpose of today's meeting is really for this decision."

Councillor ultimately voted in favour of the motion, which will go to full council on February 17.

The Hertfordshire Pension Fund currently pools its investments in the ACCESS investment pool, a collaboration of 11 English local government pension schemes, managing over £50bn in assets.

In November 2024, the Government published its Fit for the Future consultation on local government pension schemes, setting out four minimum standards of how councils should approach their pension pools, to take effect from March 31, 2026.

Councils were told they should ensure their pension pools advise on investment strategy as well as implement those strategies; manage the council's legacy assets, and also be held accountable by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

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A report prepared by Patrick Towey, the council's head of pension fund, stated: "The ACCESS pool looked to develop an approach that would meet these requirements, but the Government rejected its business case.

"Following the Government's rejection of the ACCESS pool business case in April 2025, Hertfordshire Pension Fund, alongside three other ACCESS funds, undertook a comprehensive review of alternative pooling options.

"After evaluating responses, conducting site visits, and completing investment and operational due diligence, Border to Coast Pension Partnership (BCPP) was identified as the preferred partner due to its strong governance, cost efficiency, investment range, and alignment with Government standards.

"BCPP is a positive outcome for the Hertfordshire Fund, and by joining this pool with six other ACCESS Funds, we will create a pool of eighteen partners with approximately £110bn in assets."

During the meeting, Cllr Rachel Carter (Green, Hertford St Andrews) said: "I suppose it could potentially be a bit of a shock to the investments…I'm not quite sure what's happening to the investments themselves. Are you moving that money from one type of investment to a different type of investment?

"If you're taking money out and then putting it into a different investment, that could have a negative effect."

In response, Mr Towey said: "Colleagues at Border to Coasts have been looking at funds that we're invested in at the moment, and they're assessing those funds compared to their current offering.

"We're fortunate that some of the managers they have at the moment are similar to what we have, so there will be a movement of what they call an 'in-specie' transfer, where there isn't too much transition costs.

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"But there will be funds that they probably feel they don't want. And there will be transition costs there, where we have to sell the units in those funds and buy the units in their other funds. They will do that over a period of time.

"They'll look at some of the companies they may have, in what they call 'the funds that they manage', and so we can probably in-specie those across. But where that is not the case, those companies will be sold and that cash will be used to buy units in those new funds.

"So it's going to be a very complex transition process. It will be done over a period of time.

"We've had discussions with Border to Coast over the summer, and they've been quite clear to us that they don't want to go through a sort of fire sale. It won't be a destruction of the economic value of those holdings; it will be done in a measured way."

Cllr Stuart Roberts (Lib Dem, Harpenden North East) said: "In many ways, it's a very complex, long paper before us, but actually, it's just the conclusion of a whole series of discussions we've had over a long period of time.

"We touched on this slightly at the last pensions committee, and that is the importance of the joint committee going forward. I was just wondering chair whether you had any thoughts about how we may start to time our meetings of this pension committee, so we can help you in preparation for those joint committees, rather than the other way round.

"I think it's really important that this committee have sight of those agendas in advance, so that we can then give you the support you need to go to those meetings to represent us all."

Cllr Williams responded: "I think that's correct really…in one sense, there should be feedback from the pension pool to yourselves, and yes, I'm the representative and I shall bring that in forward…and to time it right, before I go off to one of those meetings, which I believe will be in Leeds."

Vice chair, Cllr Ian Albert (Labour, Hitchin North) said: "It's very much the conclusion of a long road, and I support the paper."

Councillors unanimously voted in favour of the recommendation.