More Questions & Women on Boards Game

NBPSPP-more questions

Well, what other questions might a pension board ask of itself?
There is sup[posed to be a policy about lobbying. There isn't one.

But this ought not stop the Board from asking what impacts Pension Reform might have on prospective plan members. (The Feds are exploring ways to help Canadians save more for retirement). Has the Board met with Liberal MP's from the Province to discuss what, if any impact these changes might have on expectations for this Plan? Did the Board submit any comments to Minister Morneau? If so, when were retirees to be briefed or, when was their input sought?

If you looked at CAPSA's site, you would have seen the prominent role that risk management plays in the management of a pension plan. What are our risk management metrics? Is there  risk testing and how often is this performed? Are there factors which prompt this? What are our performance measurement indicators? These questions tie into the 3 functions of a Pension Board. These include:

• investment management. What guidelines are there to help the Board oversee this function and why aren't these published? Are there investment policies and procedures and are there investment performance objectives? All of these are available through other pension plans. Why not ours? Or am I missing something?
• pension plan management.
• pension plan and fund administration. To this point, is there a written funding policy in place? 

So, how does the Board monitor the companies in which the Plan invests. This goes to the policies about social responsibility investments (which one would assume the union representatives would be interested in) and ethical investing (which everyone should be interested in). Our board ought to be disclosing its voting activity, reporting this periodically to the members. Finally, it is one thing to declare that a breach of the conflict of interest principles will be dealt with harshly. How are these identified and managed?

How does a Pension Board determine if the companies in which it invests are ethical? One should first consider what are the ethical pitfalls. These might include:

• moral hazards
• perverse incentives
• degree to which the company engages (or doesn't)  institutional investors
• responsibility shown (or not) by the companies (in which we invest) to environmental change 

There are some things to consider when evaluating companies for our investment.

• Where applicable, do they subscribe to the NYSE Governance Guidelines?
• Do they have a policy related to fair dealing?
• From Saucier, do they have a code of conduct?
• From NP 58-201, do they have a conflict of interest policy?
• Does the company have a reputation of complying with regulations? 
• Are there whistleblowing provisions?

By checking this out and briefing Plan members accordingly, the Board is able to assure the members that the Plan's assets are protected and there are limits within which the Board pursues investment opportunities.  Not only this, the Board is able to assure plan members that the reputation of the Plan is protected. 

Tomorrow..risk management, crisis planning and Pension Boards. I may also be able to provide some assurance that NBPSPP is , if not great, at least ok. 

Women, Boards and the Board Game

So what's the context? 
Corporations with women on their boards have:

• 53% higher return on equity
• 42% higher return on sales
• 66% higher return on capital.

But there is a catch. 

There needs to be at least 3 women on the board. 

So, a few posts ago, it was suggested that the game would initially require cooperation and then, towards the end, it would become competitive. 

To be successful , initially, a woman needs to have a supportive network, a mentor and, eventually a sponsor. 

One of the features of this game is how  woman builds that network hence the importance of:

• university and professional association alumnus connections
• the development of supportive relations in a volunteer board experience
• connections with consulting and placement agencies which also maintain evergreen lists
• 84% of the leadership positions in the volunteer sector are women. 16% are held by men. 

A X-reference for this game would be he Networking Game.

Why is this supportive network so important? 

Remember:

• Nominating Committees of corporations believe that women cannot serve because they have household duties
• Women do not have enough relevant experience to serve on boards
• women have interrupted career paths because of marriage, pregnancy and because women take subservient career options to support their husbands' ambitions.

However, during this career path, a mentor is required. Typically a mentor is someone who will advocate for one within an organization. This would start in university, then in professional associations and then to advance within the voluntary sector. This would also apply within one's first jobs.

A sponsor is some one outside the organization but within the chosen industry who will advocate for a person. 

Tomorrow, we can move onto what industries to choose. Some are more female friendly..but for political reasons, some want to be female friendly.