Trustee board effectiveness

Although the UK Corporate Governance Code doesn’t apply to pension trustee boards, many of the overarching themes - such as evaluating board effectiveness - are equally applicable and help demonstrate good governance.

There are many reasons why you would review the effectiveness of your pension trustee board, such as to:

• ensure the trustee group is performing as well as possible - both operationally and behaviourally
• address a specific issue or issues
• benchmark pension trustee board processes, operation and effectiveness against others
• access independent expert opinion to gain fresh perspective and new ways of thinking
• reassure the trustees or chair of trustees that internal review processes and development plans are adequate and effective
• demonstrate a commitment to improving governance to pension members, the sponsoring employer, The Pensions Regulator or other stakeholders
• assess how well things are running following the appointment of a new chair of trustees
• put in place development and succession plans

PSGS is perfectly placed to review the effectiveness of your pension trustee board. We are independent, impartial and objective. We have an in-depth understanding of the role of a pension trustee board and the workings of a pension scheme, with extensive experience doing the job ourselves, and are able to bring wider experience and perspective to aid benchmarking. Being external means we can more easily ‘tell it like it is’ or deal with known issues diplomatically.

Pension trustee board review services

Our pension trustee board review services would be for tailored specifically to pension scheme, trustees and particular objectives, typically including one or more of the following elements:

• trustee board evaluation self assessment toolkit
• board effectiveness questionnaires
• collective trustee board effectiveness assessment
• individual trustee evaluation, including capabilities and effectiveness

Download our trustee board effectiveness reviews service flyer

Our trustee board effectiveness partner

PSGS delivers our trustee board effectiveness review service together with the Non-Executive Directors’ Association (NEDA) - the leading independent member association dedicated to Non-Executive Directors (NEDs). NEDA promotes and supports the needs of NEDs at all levels, providing a comprehensive range of practical education, training, mentoring, coaching and advisory services.

NEDA promotes:

• Leadership – helping NEDs think and act strategically, whilst providing the right level of independent challenge.
• Board effectiveness – ensuring boards have an appropriate balance based on experience, skills and broader diversity.
• Technical knowledge – promoting better understanding and capabilities in governance, finance, risk management and internal control.
• Personal development – focusing NEDs on setting personal objectives that provide a benchmark for measuring performance.
• Recruitment – providing support and advice for individuals and organisations.
• Networking – delivering events for NEDs to keep up to date and share experiences.

For more information please visit www.nedaglobal.com or email info@nedaglobal.com

To find out more about how our expert team can help you and your pension trustee board develop and improve, please contact us.