FEATURES & ANALYSIS
In Conversation with Camille Blackburn, FCA Director, Wholesale Buy-side: 2 March 2023
FBC was pleased to welcome Camille Blackburn, the FCA’s new Director of Wholesale Buy-side, and Donald Mackay, Senior Associate, Asset Management Department to discuss key themes relevant to fund boards in the recent FCA publication of Dear CEO letters to the industry.
Inaugural co-sec meeting: 9 March 2023
Fund board process topped the agenda at FBC’s first co-sec meeting, with board agendas, packs and meeting minutes among the topics coming under scrutiny. Read the write-up from FBC Managing Director, Catherine Battershill.
Fund Board Chairs: In the hotseat: 21 March 2023
Carole Judd from BNY Mellon, Phil Wagstaff from Jupiter, Laurence Mumford from M&G and Nicola Palios from Thesis, joined FBC CEO Shiv Taneja to discuss the evolving role of funds boards, and specifically their role as fund board chairs. Read more in the article and FBC Corporate Members can also access the recording on-demand.
VIEWPOINT
Tim Sargisson, former CEO of Sandringham Partners, speaks to Simon Hynes, FBC senior adviser, on ‘Why Consumer Duty redefines the relationship between Manufacturers and Distributors’. Read and watch the interview.
SPOTLIGHT
Sustainable Oversight
Sustainable investment fund oversight is increasingly under scrutiny following the FCAs expectations set out in its 2021 Dear AFM Chair letter and Feb 2023 Dear CEO letter on supervisory strategy.
FBC’s senior adviser, Brandon Horwitz, recently hosted a round-table discussion with Clare Wood, a fund board director at First Sentier Investors (UK) Ltd about her experiences. Read the write-up and FBC Corporate Members can watch the full event recording too. FBC has also recently launched a new Sustainable Investment Fund Oversight Review (SIFOR) service to help fund boards obtain assurance on the effectiveness of their arrangements in this key area.
Taking stock – Board Assessment Review
Good board practice and process are central to many discussions during regulator visits and supervisory work, with an expectation that this is something to which boards will have given careful consideration. Read more on how FBC can help support with Board Assessment Reviews.
CROSS BORDER INSIGHTS
Letter from LUX
In her regular article, and a video accompaniment, Sheenagh Gordon-Hart of the Director’s Office, investigates SFDR transparency requirements vis-à-vis annual reports.
Aldcroft on Asia Pac
Stewart Aldcroft, veteran of the Asian asset management industry, talks mutual funds, Wealth Management Connect and trolley bags, among other things in post-covid Hong Kong, in his regular article.
PROFILE
Frank Johnson, chair of the fund board at First Sentier Investors speaks with FBC managing director, Catherine Battershill, about his career path from executive to iNED to iNED chair.
FBC IN THE COMMUNITY
Charities of the Year 2023
We are delighted to be continuing our charity support this year. In our usual tradition, three FBC staffers have nominated the charities, which are; Alzheimer’s Society, British Heart Foundation and YoungMinds.
As in previous years, we will be making a donation to each of these charities to give forward for the time our speakers kindly give us, along with some additional fundraising by the FBC team.
BOARD BUSINESS
Top reads
In case you didn’t catch up on the fund governance news you can use with our blog last week, the three most read articles are:
Responsible ranking
ShareAction has assessed and ranked 77 of the world’s largest asset managers on their approach to responsible investment, with focus on performance in five areas: climate action, protecting biodiversity and addressing social issues such as labour rights and public health – and how well their governance and stewardship practices embed investing responsibly at the heart of the business. The reading is not pretty – read the report here.
Way past Woodford
Waystone Chief Executive, Derek Delaney, speaks to FN London here about the due diligence behind the Link Fund Solutions bid and the desire to move past the Woodford scandal.
Acquiring insight
The UBS takeover of Credit Suisse has moved at such a pace this past week that this FT explainer, including a section on the positives for combining the asset management businesses, here, may be useful.
FBC Member Events & Engagements
April-June 2023
18 April 2023, 2-3pm BST
Implementing Assessment of Value: The impact so far….
his meeting is open exclusively to FBC Corporate Members.
Read further details and FBC corporate members can register.
Date: 27 April 2023, 2-3pm BST
Consumer Duty: The Distributor Data Challenge. How fund managers and platforms are facing up to regulatory deadlines
This FBC Digital Meeting will discuss how firms are working with distributors and platforms to produce an improved exchange of data. A panel of Consumer Duty experts from the fund manager and platform industry will join host and FBC senior adviser, Simon Hynes.
Meeting open exclusively for FBC Corporate Members.
Read further details and FBC Corporate Members can register.
Date: 11 May 2023, 2-3pm BST
Exploring and Maximising Service Provider Oversight: new FBC research
In this Digital Meeting, FBC senior adviser, Peter Christmas will set out the key findings from proprietary research and discuss the key challenges and questions that directors should be asking when it comes to effective service provider oversight.
Open to FBC Corporate Members only.
Read further details. FBC Corporate Members can register.
Date: 18 May 2023, 2:30-4:30pm BST
FBC iNED Council (in person)
FBC is delighted to be reprising its iNED Council meetings for independent directors currently sitting on fund boards.
This event is by invitation.
Date: 8 June 2023, 2-3pm BST
Effective Fund Board Process: Insights and good practice from FBC’s latest fund board effectiveness research
Hosted by FBC managing director, Catherine Battershill, this meeting will provide the first insights from FBCs second Fund Board Effectiveness report, bringing together a panel of governance professionals to discuss key aspects of effective board development and process.
Meeting open exclusively to FBC Corporate Members.
Read further information. FBC Corporate Members can register.
