What is Investment Governance?
What is pension governance? More broadly, how does one characterize investment governance? Talk to a dozen institutional investors and you are likely to get a dozen different answers.
Brian Holden has an interesting take on this important query. In "Where there's a will: governance check" (Pensions Week, January 11, 2010), his suggestions include the following:
- Go beyond regulatory mandates to include best practices
- Balance the representation of stakeholders
- Add knowledgeable individuals to decision-making bodies
- Introduce risk management principles to guide actions
- Manage pensions with beneficiaries and shareholders in mind
- Adopt a "dynamic and more businesslike approach"
- Establish a governance code "to provide guidance and assessment."
A lot of this sounds eerily familiar. I've been making many of the same points for years as have others. Increasingly, dissonant voices are coming together to speak a common language of reform. This is encouraging indeed.
Yesterday marks the official launch of FiduciaryX.com. Click to read "Investment Governance, Inc. Announces the Launch of FiduciaryX.com." We will be announcing all sorts of events and speakers in the coming weeks and months. On February 16, 2010 from 11:00 AM to Noon EST, we are holding a FiduciaryX Virtual Town Hall on the topic of investment governance. Email CustomerCare@InvestmentGovernance.com if you are not yet a subscriber but would like to participate in this exciting online event. We hope you will join us.
