GLOBAL EQUITY TRADING COST ANALYSIS Executive Summary The Myners Principles require that the Panel should have a full understanding of the transaction related costs they incur and should seek to include the achievement of value for money and efficiency in its objectives and all aspects of its operations. To this end, since 2003 the Fund has commissioned a trading cost analysis which shows commissions, fees and market impact costs incurred by the Fund over the year. During the period under review, April 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014, Elkins McSherry monitored 1.29bn in global equities in twenty-seven countries. The overall trading cost (commission, fees and market impact) was +11.7 basis points (BP) or 1,514,702, which is 20.1 basis points lower than the Elkins/McSherry Universe, representing a 'saving' of approximately 2.6m. In sterling terms, the Fund has made a cost saving of 8.9m against the Universe over the eleven years that the Elkins/McSherry report has been produced in full through efficient trading. Recommendation The report is noted and the Fund continues to receive trade cost analysis reports. Introduction 1. The Myners Principles require that. The Panel should seek to include the achievement of value for money and efficiency in its objectives and all aspects of its operations The Panel should have a full understanding of the transaction related costs they incur, including commissions and have a strategy for ensuring that these costs are properly controlled without jeopardising the fund s other objectives. 2. The Financial Services Authority, HM Treasury and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance (CIPFA) endorse Myners review and LGPS administering authorities are required to prepare, publish and maintain statements of compliance against a set of six principles for pension fund investment, scheme governance, disclosure and consultation. 3. The Fund initially commissioned a trial trading cost analysis based on data for the quarter ended March 31, 2003 and the Panel agreed that trading costs should be monitored on an annual basis to ensure compliance with Myners and so that the fund managers remain aware of the interest in trading costs. 4. The investment manager is accountable for the return on the fund which includes trading costs.
Definition 5. Basis points are used to measure movements of less than 1%. One hundred basis points equal 1% and one basis point equals one-hundredth of a percent. The value of a basis point changes each year. For the period under review, one basis point of transaction cost equals around 129,000. 6. Commission is paid by managers to brokers at the time of the stock trade. Managers are required to report commissions between trade execution and research, rather than reporting a single commission charge. Commission is reported in the Quarterly reports in the IMA Disclosure Tables for each manager. 7. Fees include mandatory costs such as stamp duty and local taxes. 8. Market Impact is the difference between the trade execution price and the Volume Weighted Average Price (VWAP) of the stock on trade date. This is the benchmark used in the Elkins/McSherry report although there are other methods of calculating the VWAP, i.e. based on an intra day price or an average over several days. 9. Trading Cost is commission plus market impact and fees. 10. The Elkins/McSherry Universe (the Universe) is a compilation of actual trade data from hundreds of institutions. This data covers over 24 million trades, $7.2 trillion worth of principal and 375 billion shares of trading representing 1,500 investment managers and 2,000 brokers worldwide. This trading data is used to create an institutional average UniverseUniverse of commissions, fees and market impact costs. 11. A plus sign (+) preceding a number indicates an expense and the absence of a sign prior to a number signifies a benefit versus the UniverseUniverse. Trading costs 12. Elkins/McSherry provides specialised reports that track global equity trading costs incurred during a fund's daily activities, i.e. the costs that the investment managers incur when buying and selling shares within the portfolio. 13. The reports enable individual manager and broker costs to be monitored on country-by-country basis. 14. The analysis contains information on the market impact, commissions and fees of the portfolio, which are then compared to the Elkins/McSherry Universe, and so enables the user to evaluate trading costs for the entire fund.
Results 15. The Elkins/McSherry report shows the total cost of trading for the pension fund compared to the Universe, the highest and lowest cost trades by country and broker and the total costs for the total fund and for each manager. The Universe is weighted according to the volume of trade carried out in each country by each manager. 16. During the period under review, April 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014, the fund traded 1.29 billion in global equities in twenty-seven countries. Baillie Gifford accounted for 30% of this trading and UBS for 70%, reflecting the transition within the UBS portfolio. 17. The overall trading cost was +11.7 basis points (BP) or 1,514,702. This comprises the following commission, fee and market impact figures: Fund Fund Universe Variance 000 Basis points Commission +845,783 +6.6 +17.3 10.7 Fees +577,931 +4.5 +4.7 0.2 Market Impact +90,988 +0.7 +9.9 9.2 Total 1,514,702 +11.7 +31.9 20.1 2012/13 682,988 +12.6 +28.8 16.2 2011/12 546,033 +14.8 +32.5 17.7 2010/11 896,239 +25.4 +39.5 14.1 2009/10 538,222 +18.9 +35.7 16.8 2008/09 497,276 +14.7 +48.9 34.1 2007/08 907,145 +24.1 +43.3 19.2 2006/07 422,502 +15.9 +41.0 25.0 18. The total trading cost for the West Sussex fund was 20.1 basis points lower than the Elkins/McSherry Universe, representing a 'saving' of approximately 2. 6m. 19. The trading costs can be further broken down by each manager and are summarised on the following page. The Universe for each manager is different as it is weighted by the amount of trading conducted by each manager on behalf of the fund.
Baillie Gifford UBS Manager Universe Variance Manager Universe Variance Bp Bp Bp Bp Bp Bp Commission +5.8 +17.7 11.9 +6.9 +17.1 10.2 Fees +3.8 +3.7 +0.1 +4.8 +5.1 0.3 Market Impact -4.5 +9.7 14.2 +2.9 +10.0 7.1 Total +5.1 +31.1 26.0 +14.6 +32.2 17.6 2012/13 +8.3 +24.0 15.7 +30.9 +49.1 18.2 2011/12 +10.8 +25.7 14.9 +22.4 +45.4 23.0 2010/11 +22.7 +34.4 11.7 +29.4 +46.7 17.3 2009/10 +22.8 +31.6 8.8 +11.7 +43.0 31.3 2008/09 +30.1 +44.7 14.6 6.9 +54.8 61.8 2007/08 +15.1 +36.7 21.6 +38.6 +54.1 15.5 2006/07 0.6 +38.0 31.8 +40.1 +45.5 5.4 20. UBS s market impact had a significant positive impact on the portfolio s overall cost again this year, reflecting their contrarian view. Baillie Gifford s commission figures are notably below the Universe, and market impact had a positive effect on overall costs. 21. Both managers overall trading costs were again low relative to the Universe for the period under review. Over the period that West Sussex has participated in the Elkins/McSherry analysis (January 2003 to March 2013) UBS and Baillie Gifford s total trading costs have remained below the Universe. Variances are affected by volatility and liquidity in the various markets traded in, and so costs vary year on year. The table below sets out both fund managers variance, and the variance versus the Universe for the total fund. Also shown is the cost saving in sterling terms against the Universe. Conclusion Baillie Gifford UBS Total Cost Saving 000 2003 23 N/A 2004 14 38 21 519 2005 19 21 19 451 2006 7 13 9 217 2007 32 5 25 683 2008 22 15 19 727 2009 15 62 34 1,149 2010 9 31 17 476 2011 12 18 14 498 2012 15 23 18 653 2013 16 18 16 878 2014 26 18 20 2,601 8,852 22. The fund s overall trading cost of +11.7 basis points, or 1,514,702, was 20.1 basis points lower than the Elkins/McSherry Universe and represents a 'saving' of 2.60m.
23. The performance for the year under review has again demonstrated the consistent below-universe trading costs that have been calculated for the fund over the previous ten years. Recommendation 24. Whilst the results since 2003 have been favourable, it is recommended that trading costs should continue to be monitored on an annual basis. This will ensure compliance with Myners and that the fund manager remains aware of the interest in trading costs. The Trade Cost Analysis report cost 14,000 for 2013/2014. Further information 25. A complete copy of the Elkins/McSherry report giving full details of each managers' trading costs, by country and broker, is available from Nathan O Brennan (Nathan.O Brennan@westsussex.gov.uk / 03302 223384). Tim Stretton Head of Corporate Finance