Fund boards are now an established feature in firms’ investment governance frameworks and, ostensibly, their overarching purpose is clear – to ensure that investors’ interests are represented at a senior level in asset management firms.

Yet, the range of areas overseen by fund board directors is evolving, extending beyond the delivery of Assessment of Value to encompass wider oversight responsibilities, including internal and third-party service provider monitoring, ESG and operational resilience, to name but a few. In this session, we explored the implications of that evolving purpose, how well understood the role of the fund board is in the wider organisation and how that impacts on the work of board directors.

Drawing on initial findings from the first study in FBC’s new Fund Board Effectiveness Barometer series, in this meeting we gained insights into:

• how asset management firms are defining the purpose and key aims of their fund boards
• the extent to which directors feel the role of the fund board is clearly understood more widely in the organisations and the impact this has on their board work
• the steps firms are taking to raise awareness of the role of the fund board internally

Joining us to discuss this important topic in more detail was Marc Teasdale, a Managing Director in Allen & Overy’s strategic and regulatory consulting practice, and former Director of Wholesale Supervision at the FCA. We also drew on the insights and expertise of Rachel Treece, CEO of the FTS Global and The Henka Institute, an experienced executive coach who has worked closely with executive and non-executive directors across a wide range of financial services boards.