Corporate Governance Aligned to King IV Principles

Principle 9: EVALUATIONS OF THE PERFORMANCE OF THE BOARD

GOVERNING STRUCTURES AND DELEGATION

  • Principle 9 – The governing body should ensure that the evaluation of its own performance and that of its committees, its chair, and its individual members, supports continued improvement in its performance and effectiveness

Outcomes

  • Effective governance structures

EVALUATIONS OF THE PERFORMANCE OF THE BOARD

  • The Board ensures that the evaluation of its own performance, and that of its committees, its chair, and its individual members, supports continued improvement in its performance and effectiveness

EVALUATIONS OF THE PERFORMANCE OF THE BOARD

  • Performance evaluation of the Board to assess effectiveness is conducted annually and recommendations are discussed and implemented in the subsequent year

Board and committee evaluations

The Board is committed to continuous improvement and evaluates its performance. The Charter stipulates that the Board of Directors will conduct evaluations to determine whether the Board and its Committees are functioning effectively in terms of discharging their mandate as per the Board Charter and in line with leading practices on corporate governance. The Board evaluates its performance through a combination of both internal peer and external facilitated assessments.

 

In the year of review, which was a year of transition from the 11th to the 12th Board, we did not engage an external facilitator to conduct an evaluation since the Board had just been onboarded. However, the Board reviewed the recommendations of the past evaluation and embarked on implementing the following initiatives to address the areas of improvement:

Areas for improvement

Gender balance and diversity

  • The Board was reconstituted to strengthen its gender balance and diversity, covering varying competencies

Succession planning

  • The Board is focusing on succession planning of the Managing Director and Deputy Managing Director by identifying suitable replacements as recommended in the previous Board evaluation

Channels for staff to obtain assistance with ethics issues

Following a recommendation to improvise channels for employees to engage the Board on ethical issues, channels have been created through which employees can engage with the Board on ethical issues:
  • An external firm is being onboarded to create an ethics hotline through which anonymous reports on unethical behaviour can be reported without fear of victimisation
  • The Board has also undertaken regional branch visits to promote their interaction with staff as well as obtain feedback from members

Principle 10: APPOINTMENT AND DELEGATION TO MANAGEMENT

GOVERNING STRUCTURES AND DELEGATION

  • Principle 10 – The governing body should ensure that the appointment of, and delegation to, management contributes to role clarity and the effective exercise of authority and responsibilities

Outcomes

  • Effective governance structures

Appointment and delegation to management

  • The Board ensures the appointment of, and delegation to management contributes to role clarity and the effective exercise of authority and responsibilities

Appointment and delegation to management

  • Management, led by the MD, have the authority to manage and control the day-to-day affairs of the Fund in relation to matters other than those reserved for the Board
  • We have robust processes in place to ensure that the delegation flows through the Board and its committees to the MD and EXCO into the organisation. At the same time, accountability flows upwards from the Fund to its members. This process helps to ensure alignment and open communication with our members and all our stakeholders

GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE
  • The Fund’s governance structure is illustrated in the diagram below and shows the interaction between the members and the Board, demonstrating how the Board Committee structure facilitates the relationship between the Board and the MD and indicates the flow of delegation from members. We have robust processes in place to ensure that the delegation flows through the Board and its committees to the MD and EXCO into the organisation. At the same time, accountability flows upwards from the Fund to its members. This process helps to ensure alignment and open communication with our members and all our stakeholders
Principles 11-13: Functional Governance Areas

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