Investment governance
Investment governance
Pension trustee boards need to make informed investment governance decisions to ensure they achieve the best outcomes for pension scheme members. Independent of investment managers, consultants and fiduciary managers, we provide truly objective challenge that gives trustee boards confidence in their decision making.
Meet our investment governance specialists
Our team combines independent trustee experience with broad investment knowledge across traditional advisory, fiduciary management and hybrid arrangements.
Why do schemes need strong investment governance?
Choosing the right model and the right adviser are critical decisions across a Scheme’s entire life. Trustee boards must continually assess adviser effectiveness, review governance structures and decide which advice model is the most appropriate.
We help trustees understand their current arrangements, challenge providers where neccessary and make better-informed decisions.
Choosing the right investment governance model
There’s no single investment governance model that’s right for every pension scheme. The right approach depends on scheme size, trustee resources, governance budget, sponsor objectives and the long-term journey plan.
Our independent perspective helps pension trustee boards understand:
The strengths and limitations of advisory, fiduciary management and hybrid arrangements.
The governance implications of each approach.
The practical impact on trustee workloads and decision making.
Our role isn’t to advocate a particular solution, but to help trustees determine what is most appropriate for their circumstances.
Independent investment governance reviews
Investment governance can become increasingly complex as a pension scheme matures. Trustee boards need to ask:
Is our current governance model still fit for purpose and proportionate to the scheme?
Are our adviser and provider arrangements delivering value for money?
Are we receiving the right level of challenge, support and delegated decision making?
Are we making sufficient progress towards our long-term objectives?
Our reviews provide an independent assessment of existing arrangements, helping trustees identify improvements and make informed future decisions across governance structures, adviser relationships, reporting, investment oversight and fiduciary management.
Provider selection and market reviews
When trustees decide a change of investment governance structure is appropriate they need to make confident and well-informed decisions.
We support provider selection exercises and market reviews by:
- defining objectives, selection criteria and market shortlists
- running RFP exercises and assessing provider submissions
- facilitating trustee workshops and decision support
- providing clear selection recommendations
Working alongside specialist review providers
Specialist third-party evaluators and independent review providers often have an important role within the fiduciary management market.
Our reviews help pension trustees understand and oversee investment arrangements on an ongoing basis. Where a formal fiduciary management review, market-wide assessment or specialist third-party evaluation is required, we can work alongside external experts so trustees receive the right support.
This allows trustee boards to benefit from ongoing governance oversight and specialist independent evaluation where .
Trustee training and education
Strong investment governance starts with well-informed trustees. We share our extensive practical experience of both pension trusteeship and investment through tailored trustee training covering:
investment governance
fiduciary management and adviser oversight
endgame investment strategy options
liability-driven investment
responsible investment and ESG
current market developments
Training can be delivered as part of regular trustee meetings or through dedicated sessions designed around the needs of individual boards.
This case study looks at how our independent fiduciary manager selection process helped the pension trustees gain valuable knowledge and increased confidence in the journey plan for both the trustee board and employer.
Our latest insights
Our specialists regularly publish insights on investment governance, fiduciary management oversight and pension scheme investment strategy. Explore our latest articles, case studies and thought leadership.
