Common Investment Fund asset management (FOI)

Request

Please could you provide some information on the Common Investment Fund (CIF). There appears to be very little information on the CIF shown on the Government of Jersey website, and yet a significant portion of the Government's assets are held in this vehicle.

In particular, please could you provide latest figures on the CIF's current asset allocation, including a breakdown of the underlying asset managers? I would also like to see a schedule of all of the CIF's investment holdings (including direct equities, bonds, funds and so on), along with their most recent valuations.

I would like to know who sits on the Treasury Advisory Panel, and understand who is responsible for decisions with regard to asset allocation and manager selection within the CIF.

Response

The Common Investment Fund (CIF) is governed by the States of Jersey Investment Strategy Document published online (see link below). This provides high level details of the objectives of each investment pool and the asset allocation to those pools of each individual States Fund participating in the CIF. The document also outlines the governance arrangements applicable to the pooling arrangement. This Document is presented to the States Assembly, at least annually, by the Minister for Treasury and Resources.

States of Jersey Investment Strategies (October 2019)

Investment Managers are appointed to asset pools within the CIF, each Manager has their own capital allocation and mandate. Appendix 1 includes a table summarising the Managers appointed to each CIF pool and the value of assets allocated to that Manager as at the end of April 2020, the last audited position. In the case where a pool holds material assets not directly attributable to a Manager, for example cash pending investment, or pending trades where a trade has been completed but not yet settled as of the value date, this has been highlighted.

Appendix 1 - April 2020 CIF positioning

The Treasury Advisory Panel are an independent advisory Panel, who recommend the appointment and removal of investment managers to the Minister for Treasury and Resources. The Minister for Treasury and Resources is ultimately responsible for the investment of States money under powers provided within the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2019.

The Treasury Advisory Panel has three independent members, who are appointed for their expertise in the investment arena, the Treasurer of the States is the fourth member of the Panel. The current Chairman of the Panel is Philip Taylor. The Panel are supported by both Treasury and Exchequer staff and the States Investment Advisor, Aon. The Panel are appointed for a three year period, with current members most recently appointed on 1 January 2020. The names of the other independent members are exempt from release under Article 25 (Personal Information) of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011.

The Terms of reference of the Treasury Advisory Panel are published online at the following link:

Terms of Reference of the Treasury Advisory Panel

Articles applied

Article 25 Personal information

(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018.

(2) Information is absolutely exempt information if –

(a) it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is not the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018; and

(b) its supply to a member of the public would contravene any of the data protection principles, as defined in that Law.

(3) In determining for the purposes of this Article whether the lawfulness principle in Article 8(1)(a) of the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018 would be contravened by the disclosure of information, paragraph 5(1) of Schedule 2 to that Law (legitimate interests) is to be read as if sub-paragraph (b) (which disapplies the provision where the controller is a public authority) were omitted.