Updated:
Flintshire County Council Clwyd Pension Fund (AVC)
The Clwyd Pension Fund is the local government pension scheme for Flintshire County Council and its associated employers in northeast Wales. As a Local...
Flintshire County Council Clwyd Pension Fund (AVC)
The Clwyd Pension Fund is the local government pension scheme for Flintshire County Council and its associated employers in northeast Wales. As a Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) fund, it provides defined-benefit retirement security to a closed and maturing membership, with the AVC arrangement offering members the ability to top up their pensions through a range of external investment funds. Named fund committee leadership includes Chair Christopher Bithell, with day-to-day administration overseen by Head of Fund Philip Latham. The fund's AVC investment menu is constructed entirely through external fund allocations, reflecting a delegated approach to asset management. UK commercial property exposure is distributed across five vehicles: BlackRock UK Property Fund, CCLA (LAMIT) Property Fund, Hermes Property Fund, Legacy and General Property Fund, and Schroders Property Fund. European residential investments run through Basecamp and Octopus Affordable Housing Fund, while Asian commercial property exposure is channeled via the Aberdeen Property Asia Select strategy. Domestic leisure property is accessed through the Darwin Leisure Property Fund, along with traditional AVC vehicles from Prudential and Utmost Life and Pensions. The fund pools its main LGPS assets through the Wales Pension Partnership, a collaboration of all eight Welsh local authority pension funds established to aggregate investment management costs and expand access to private markets. The Clwyd Pension Fund participates in the UK Stewardship Code, maintains membership in the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum, and has signed the Impact Investing Principles for Pensions — signaling a formal commitment to ESG integration across its proxy-voted and allocated mandates. Structurally, the Clwyd AVC arrangement is not a standalone entity but a defined-contribution overlay bolted onto a traditional DB scheme — a common feature of UK public-sector pension architecture. This dual structure means AVC members bear their own investment risk within the selected fund lineup, while the main scheme remains a funded promise of the administering authority. Governance separation is maintained through the Pensions Committee, with Flintshire County Council acting as the statutory administering body and all investment discretion delegated to the external managers listed in the AVC panel.
General information
Firm type
Pension Fund
Year founded
1996
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
Europe
Country
United Kingdom
City
Flintshire
Corporate office
Flintshire, Wales, United Kingdom
Principals
Philip Latham
Head of Clwyd Pension Fund
Christopher Bithell
Chair of the Clwyd Pension Fund Committee
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
What is the relationship between the main Clwyd Pension Fund and the AVC arrangement?
The Clwyd Pension Fund is a defined-benefit Local Government Pension Scheme administered by Flintshire County Council. The Additional Voluntary Contribution (AVC) scheme operates as a separate defined-contribution overlay, allowing members to make extra pension savings into a curated panel of third-party investment funds. AVC members bear their own investment risk, distinct from the funded DB promise of the main scheme.
Which external fund managers are included in the AVC panel?
The AVC panel includes property funds from BlackRock, CCLA, Hermes (now Federated Hermes), Legal & General, Schroders, Aberdeen, and Octopus, alongside specialist vehicles from Basecamp and Darwin Leisure. Traditional AVC providers Prudential and Utmost Life and Pensions are also available. The lineup spans UK commercial, European residential, Asian mixed-use, and UK leisure real estate.
How does the Clwyd Pension Fund pool its main scheme assets?
The fund pools its primary LGPS investments through the Wales Pension Partnership, a collective vehicle launched in 2017 that consolidates the investment assets of all eight Welsh local authority pension funds. The WPP structure enables the constituent funds to negotiate lower management fees and access private market strategies that would be difficult to reach individually.
What is the governance structure of the Clwyd Pension Fund?
Flintshire County Council is the statutory administering authority. Oversight is delegated to the Clwyd Pension Fund Committee, chaired by Christopher Bithell, with Philip Latham serving as Head of the Clwyd Pension Fund. The committee is responsible for investment strategy, funding levels, and the selection of the AVC provider panel.
Does the Clwyd Pension Fund incorporate ESG considerations into its investment approach?
Yes. The fund is a signatory to the Financial Reporting Council's UK Stewardship Code, a member of the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum, and a signatory to the Impact Investing Principles for Pensions. These commitments apply to the stewardship of assets across both the main scheme and the AVC panel, where proxy voting and manager selection incorporate ESG criteria.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
Need institutional-grade insight on pension funds?
Altss delivers:
Prefer a guided tour?
We’ll walk you through: