Aon supports pension boards to understand board dynamics, diversity characteristics of individuals and how this contributes to the collective performance of the board, given the agenda of work. This awareness helps shape succession plans for company appointed trustees and governance committee members, and informs the process for attraction and selection of member-nominated trustees.
This process has been especially insightful in focussing our attention on our committee composition.
From a recent Member Nominated Trustee selection exercise, the client told us they really valued the process and landed good quality candidates and two new appointments as a result, when they worried there would be no interest.
The pensions environment is ever more complex, with those involved requiring a multitude of skills - both technical and soft skills. Having visibility of the diversity of strengths and experiences of the collective pensions team, together with the analysis by individual can help identify training needs for the group; agree the structure and agenda of work for sub-committees; understand the risks attributed to key individuals ceasing to be involved in the pension arrangement, support succession planning and recruitment to the board.
Aon supports boards to understand:
Aon's tools include:
This guide is aimed at giving some initial practical and implementable thoughts and ideas. We have reviewed how D&I potentially impacts on decision making across a wide range of scheme areas.
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The Pensions Regulator welcomes the development of guides like this which help trustees and pension schemes take practical steps to improve their diversity and inclusivity, something we believe is crucial for better decision making.
David Fairs, Executive Director of Regulatory Policy, Analysis and Advice at The Pensions Regulator
The trustee role can be viewed as similar to that of a non-executive director; they are expected to make decisions on a range of topics. The challenge here is that trustees are unlikely to reach a stage where they are as knowledgeable on every topic as the advisers who are presenting them with recommendations. Our questions will help you to understand the decision, to test it and to assess how robust the idea is, all the way through to completion.
It is clear that how a meeting is chaired has a direct impact on the board as a whole, the decisions made and how effective those decisions are. Our research also showed that although trustees are better than the general public at mitigating their cognitive biases, errors in judgment are still apparent.
Having the right board composition in terms of breadth of skills, experience and characteristics is essential to enable better decision-making and to drive the pension board agenda forward.
Aon’s work-related behavioural assessments measure the personality dimensions vital to consistent performance.
Listen to our Practical Diversity & Inclusion Practical Guide Podcast Series where we introduce Aon’s Practical Guide to D&I for Pension Schemes and cover key actions Pension Schemes can take to improve their D&I across a whole range of areas.
Our video shows other ways to engagement with your membership when looking for a more diverse range of candidates for your pensions boards.
"We believe that diverse and inclusive governing bodies are important for effective decision making and we’re committed to working with industry to share good practice. We welcome practical tools that can help employers and governing bodies to attract a wider range of candidates to the trustee role."
If you would like more information on any of these topics, please contact us.
Contact us
Susan Hoare, FIA
Partner
Andy Nichols
Senior Consultant
Shromi Jeyakumar
Associate Partner
